The SnowFlake Effect
by KeliLose
Summary: Going out of town as a group wasn't the problem, coming home was. When the gang gets stranded in a small town, with rooms filling up fast, Sheldon and Penny are forced to share a room.
1. Chapter 1

Title: The snowflake effect.

Disclaimer: The gang belongs to their creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady. I'm just playing with them, all oops are all mine.

Synopses: Going out of town as a group wasn't the problem, coming home was. When the gang gets stranded in a small town, with room filling up fast, Sheldon and Penny are forced to share a room.

New and improved chapter, It's been Beta'ed.

Many thanks to PaintedTeacherLady, who is kind enough to Beta for me.

--{-v

The airport shuttle slid to a stop in front of the fourth hotel. Inside the van Sheldon scoffed. "I don't think so. Just look at the structural instability of this establishment."

The driver dipped his head and convinced himself it was wrong to think that life in prison was not that bad. He clinched his teeth and glared at Sheldon. "Sir, it's here or the side of the road. Pick."

"Sheldon, I'm sure it's fine," Leonard said as he slide off the seat and out the door. Penny tightened her coat a little more and turned to look at Raj. "How ya doin' sweetie?"

Shivering, Raj held up two thumbs down and shook his head. "You'll die in Nebraska, you know that right." He nodded and pulled his hat down more. She smiled and made the mistake of looking in the seat behind her. Howard and Bernadette were making their own heat. Penny's eyebrows shot up to her hair line as she turned back around meeting up with Raj's eyes. He smiled, raised one eyebrow and nodded toward the make out fest behind them.

"Sweetie, two words, junior rodeo." She turned her attention to the front when Raj recoiled and protectively placed his mittened hands over his groin. The van was quiet for the next couple of minutes before Leonard returned. Sheldon looked at him expectedly.

"Ok, so we have maybe a problem," Leonard said. The whole van had is attention.

"Problem. Problem. Maybe have a problem? Leonard this whole day has been a problem, one disaster after another," Sheldon said.

"I know. You've told me several times." Sheldon said as he picked at the room key folders.

"If we would have just taken the train, but _noooo. _Mutiny commanded that we fly. Look at what we would have avoided."

"Again Sorry," Leonard said, tired and at the end of his rope.

"Leonard, what the problem?" Penny asked, trying to get back at the issue at hand. Leonard pushed up his glasses and pinched his nose.

"They only had three rooms left."

"What?" Sheldon said, with a slight tick starting at his eyebrow. "Only three? I can't spend the night in a room with someone. No one is allowed in my room, I can't..I…Leonard!" He sputtered out as the van driver hopped out to start unloading their bags.

The rest of the van filed out and claimed their bags. Penny shook her head. She should have been in Pasadena right now, but no. She agreed come when she was still dating Leonard. "Come on, it'll be fun. Howard said that Bernadette is coming. It'll be a double date trip. Only thing is we'll also be with Sheldon and Raj, but they'll be at the symposium, then at the museum." She rolled her eyes at the memory. She reached down and grabbed her Hello Kitty bag and stomped off to the lobby. She came because the money was already spent and there were no refunds.

"Ok, so Berny and me are defiantly in a room together," Howard said as he set his bag down. He turned and smiled at Penny. "You're welcome to join us Madam." Bernadette backhanded Howard on the arm. "Ouch my little brisket, I was just joking," he said rubbing his arm. He looked at Raj and mouthed "Ok, I wasn't kidding." Raj was too cold to give him thumbs up.

"Fine, Howard and Bernadette in one room," Leonard said as he handed them a key. "Raj and…um," he stopped and looked at Penny. She rolled her eyes and held her hand out for the key.

Raj shook his head franticly and leaned in to Sheldon's ear. Sheldon swatted him away and rubbed the feeling of Raj's word from his ear. "Again Please don't do that. Raj said he can't split a room with Penny. No offence," he said to Penny. She waved it off.

"Um, fine then, you and Raj, Sheldon," Leonard said. Both Raj and Sheldon started to shake their heads.

"No. No, no, no. Cohabitation, even for one night is out of the question since the fiasco last year when we went to San Francisco for the symposium," Sheldon said as Raj nodded looking serious.

"You all never did tell me what happened that night," Penny said, pointing at the two men.

"And you never will. Leonard, if you are not open to splitting a room with Penny due to the awkwardness you two have had since the break up, then that leaves no other option then for Penny and I to split a room."

Leonard's hands dropped and so did his jaw. "You're kidding me." Sheldon shook his head.

"Have you ever known me to kid? Now come on Penny," he said as he ripped a key from Leonard's hand. Penny followed Sheldon, head low. She felt horrible and wanted to lash out at someone. Again she told herself she shouldn't have come. When the elevator door closed she looked over at Sheldon who was just staring forward.

"Sheldon, I'm so sorry." He looked at her in confusion. He was often confused with Penny, always a few feet behind the conversation.

"I don't understand. Sorry why?"

"Sorry that you're stuck with me." He shook his head.

"Penny, it's not a huge burden. It's what friends do. Right?" she smiled and nodded.

"Right." Just then the doors opened and she followed him to the door. He pointed to the door and told her this was it. He bent down and set his suitcase on the floor and slid through the card reader on the door. The lights where off but the room was warm and smelled fresh. He lead the way in the room and she found the light switch. She bumped into Sheldon's back when he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Sheldon sweetie what's wrong?" she asked as she creaked her neck around to look at him. He had a slight twitch again. She looked around the corner and saw one bed and no couch.

"Holy crap on a cracker! You're freaking kidding me!" She stormed over to the phone and called the front desk. The call was a waste of time; there are no more room and no more cots. They were stuck with the twin bed.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Much thanks to ThePaintedTeacher for beta'ing while sick, . Glad you're feeling better.

Disclaimer: The gang belongs to their creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady. I'm just playing with them, all oops are all mine though.

* * *

Previously...

_"Sheldon sweetie what's wrong?" she asked as she creaked her neck around to look at him. He had a slight twitch again. She looked around the corner and saw one bed and no couch._

"_Holy crap on a cracker! You're freaking kidding me!" She stormed over to the phone and called the front desk. The call was a waste of time; there are no more rooms and no more cots. They were stuck with the twin bed._

* * *

"Okay Sheldon, calm down! It's not so bad. It's not so bad. Okay, so we're stuck with a twin bed..."

"Full," Sheldon said, as he meticulously lined up his suitcase on the suitcase holder in the closet.

"Huh?"

Sheldon looked over at Penny as she shucked her coat, "That is a full bed, not a twin."

"The guy at the desk said this was a twin bed room." Penny took the hanger that Sheldon was holding out for her.

"Honestly. Trained monkeys could run this establishment better." He stood up straight and poised himself as he would if he was in front of his class. "A standard twin bed is thirty nine inches by seventy five inches. A full bed is fifty four inches by seventy five inches. That is clearly a full."

Penny looked at the bed. "Okay." She moved to hang up her coat, but Sheldon took the coat and strategically placed it in the closet. He stepped back and eyed the closet, then moved her coat over a little. Penny watched and rolled her eyes.

"Okay, I'll set up my computer and draw up a contract of temporary cohabitation," Sheldon stated, as he picked up his messenger bag.

"What?!" Penny shrieked. She followed him through the small room to the small desk.

"Yes. I'm not going to have another fiasco like I had in San Francisco."

"What happened?" she asked, hoping he would tell her. Penny had been trying to get it out of the guys since they came back, but she couldn't get any of them to break. She was close with Howard, but he puckered his lips and she sucker-punched him without thinking.

"I wrote a clause into the contract that prohibits any of the guys from talking about it; I also signed it." He glanced at Penny. "You can't make me talk. It's a binding contract."

"But it's your contract, you can make an exception." Sheldon shook his head as he plugged his cord to the surge protector he brought. Penny knew better than to be surprised, but she still stared, slack-jawed, at the surge protector. "You brought your own surge protector?" Sheldon glared at her like she was from Mars.

"Of course! Proper preventative measures should always be taken when dealing with electronics."

Penny sighed and while searching for the remote to the television, murmured, "Of course, how could I be so silly?"

"Luck for us, Penny, I drafted a contract for just this situation," Sheldon announced as he typed away on his keyboard. Penny paused from her fast-clicking and let her head roll on her shoulder to look at him.

"You drafted a contract for the situation of temporary cohabitation with your roommate's ex-girlfriend?"

"Not exactly, but it can be modified." Penny turned her attention back to the television. She was able to find the local weather channel and that caught Sheldon's attention. The meteorologist explained the map of Highs and Lows that crashed together. Penny noticed Sheldon roll his eyes and scoff.

"What's wrong Sheldon?" she asked sarcastically. He shook his head and moved his attention back to his laptop.

"It's disturbing that the people of this area are relying on that mediocre weather predictor's word of the weather. They would have more accurate predictions using a Magic Eight Ball."

"I have some Midol if you need it," Penny offered.

Sheldon glanced back at her, confused. "Why would I need a female pre-menstrual medication?"

Penny smirked. _Because you're acting like you have PMS_, she thought. "No reason. Ya got the contract ready yet?"

"Unfortunately, I failed to foresee the need for printing, so we will not have a printed contract. But fear not Penny, typing your name and initials will suffice," he explained as he stood up, motioning Penny to sit in the chair. She sat down and typed her name and initials where Sheldon had highlighted in yellow. When she was done she looked up at Sheldon and couldn't help but let herself crack a smile when she saw his pleased expression.

"I'm going to take a shower," she exclaimed as she stood up. He nodded.

"Very well. I'm going to see if there is any internet available here in no-man's land. My mother will be expecting my notification of arrival at home. But since that's not happening anytime soon..." Penny bid him a good chat with his mom and asked him to relay her 'Hi'. Sheldon watched Penny as she rooted through her Hello Kitty suitcase. He wasn't great at reading people, but he made a strong effort at learning how to read them after meeting Penny.

_She looks sad_, he thought. Sheldon watched her for a few more heartbeats, and then she disappeared into the bathroom. He looked at his monitor, pleased when he saw that there was decent wireless available.

Just as he started to pull up the internet browser, he stopped. Sheldon felt this urge to make her feel better. He stared at his screen, thinking sadly enough, "What would Leonard do?" He scoffed. _Break her heart and make her cry,_ he quickly deduced and just as quickly decided adamantly he wasn't going to do that. Sheldon remembered seeing a little store in the lobby and wondered if they would have something chocolate for her.

''''

Penny walked into the bathroom and flipped the lock. Sighing, she placed her clothes on the counter and looked at herself in the mirror. Her eye makeup smudged under her eyes and bulked up into the folds of her lids. She sighed again and hoped that there was a hand-held shower head. It had been much too long since she had an orgasm. Penny pushed herself away from the sink and pulled the shower curtain back; she threw her hands up in victory. _Yes!_

Penny had shampooed her hair and had her conditioner in place. She took a deep breath, trying to shake the nerves of knowing that she was going to masturbate with the shower head while Sheldon was in the other room. She lifted the shower head out of its holder and lowered it, letting one hand glide up to her breast as she closed her eyes.

_Knock, knock, knock, _"Penny." She yelped, almost dropping the shower head. _Knock, knock, knock, _"Penny." _Knock, knock, knock, _"Penny."

"Yeah?" she said, quickly putting the shower head back in place.

"I'm leaving the room for a moment. I have a key. In case you feel the need, don't touch my stuff. Remember the contract," she heard Sheldon say from the other side of the door.

"Okie-dokie." she dropped her head into her hands and listened for the door to shut.

"Okay, so let's try this again," she said as she reached up for the shower head.


	3. Chapter 3

Previously_..._

"_I'm leaving the room for a moment. I have a key. In case you feel the need, don't touch my stuff. Remember the contract," she heard Sheldon say from the other side of the door._

_"Okie-dokie." She dropped her head into her hands. She listened for the door to shut._

_"OK, so lets try this again," she said as she reached up for the shower head._

_.._

Sheldon walked out of the elevator into the lobby. He did a quick scan and saw the little store. He was mildly surprised with the selection. "Interesting," he mumbled. He picked up the much too small basket and looped his arm through the handle.

He placed a box of cookies in the basket and reached for a bag of chips.

"Hey Sheldon," he heard from behind him. He didn't like having conflicting feelings about his friend and roommate. He was pleased when he turned around and saw Raj with Leonard.

"Hey dude what's up?" Raj opened the cooler and reached for a soda.

"Good evening gentlemen. I trust you two are doing well," Sheldon said as he carefully placed the chips in the basket. Nothing irritated him more than broken chips. He noticed that Leonard was staring at him, hands on hips. He scanned the shelves looking for some more Penny Comfort Food.

"Sheldon what was that all about?" Leonard asked.

"I don't know what you mean Leonard, you'll have to be more specific," he said as he picked up a bag of little candy bars.

"Dude, he means: why did you bite his head off about Penny? You know basic math: if she couldn't room with me and I can't room with you, which is still not my fault dude, what other choice did we all have?" Raj said as he reached for a bag on the shelf.

"Ya," Leonard chimed in.

"I would like nothing more then to stay down here and chit chat with you two, but I have to complete my shopping before the store closes up for the evening," he said as he pointed to the sign that displayed the hours of operation. He noticed a bottle of vodka and a large bottle of diet Pepsi. He knew that Penny would appreciate the alcohol. Without giving it much thought he reached for both bottles and placed then in the crook of his arm.

"Booze?" Leonard said, sounding like he was ready to blow a gasket.

"Yes, that's correct," Sheldon snapped. He was getting tired with the neurotic behavior of his friend and that was saying a lot coming from him. He didn't think Leonard had any right to be acting this way after what he did to Penny.

"Sheldon-" Leonard started to whine.

"Leonard, we have three minutes to complete our purchases. I would suggest that you complete your browsing." Leonard turned around in a huff and grabbed an armful of junk.

"So, you gotta be a little unsettled with having to split a room with someone," Raj said as he was handed his change. Sheldon honestly didn't mind a whole lot about sharing a room with Penny.

The man behind the counter, Sheldon noticed, was the same guy from the front desk. He placed the rest of his items on the counter and the guy bagged them up. Sheldon reached into his back pocket and had a jolt of fear. His wallet was gone. He mentally retraced his steps and remembered that he had left it by his laptop.

"I've forgotten my wallet upstairs," he said.

"No prob, I can add it to your room if you want," the guy said.

"That would be acceptable. Thank you." Sheldon fished out his key for the guy, but he asked for his name, telling him he could pull him up that way faster.

"Doctor Sheldon Cooper," he said. Sliding the key back into his pocket.

"Oh, ya, have you right here. Single twin bed room? With a Penny?" the guy asked. Sheldon held back the smile that threatened to erupt on his face when he saw Leonard and Raj's faces.

"Yes that's it." He forced himself not to correct the fact that the bed was a full.

"What?!" Leonard and Raj asked at the same time. Sheldon turned to them and nodded.

"You gave the single room to us, instead of Wolowitz." He thanked the guy behind the counter and took his bags.

Penny stepped out of the shower with Jello legs. She felt so much better now that the shower head showed her a good time. She grinned and dried off. God, her heart still raced. She slid her pale pink tank top on and her little silk shorts. She looked at herself in the mirror and wondered if her night clothes would bother Sheldon. She shrugged. "I don't care." She heard the door open and Sheldon announce himself.

"I'm in here," she said as she cracked the door open. She wrapped her towel around her hair and carried her clothes out of the bathroom.

"I found some cookies, chips and even something to drink," Sheldon said with his back to her. He set the bottle of vodka on the desk as she shoved her dirty clothes in her suitcase.

"Awesome!" she said when she spotted the liquor. Sheldon turned around and froze when he saw her. She was practically in her underwear, he thought. He looked her up and down, before he could stop himself. Then quickly turned around.

"Penny! Put some clothes on," he said in a panic. Penny laughed.

"Aw Moonpie, I am wearing clothes," she teased. She loved the look on his face when she saw him checking her out.

"No one calls me Moonpie but Meema," he said turning around to scorn her. She grinned widely as she poured herself a Vodka and diet Pepsi.

Sheldon noticed after Penny had a couple of drinks, that she was getting quite inebriated. She found Star Trek The Original Series on the television and he was thrilled that it was a marathon. During the second episode he came to the conclusion: she's drunk.

"Boy that Captain Kirk is a lady killer," Penny said as she nudged Sheldon.

"He does appear to have many relationships of a sexual nature during the series."

"Spock is hot," she said before finishing her drink. She looked down and pouted out her lower lip. She slid out of bed and waked over to the desk. Once she had her new drink she slid back under the covers with Sheldon. She tried to sneak a cookie in with her but he pointed at it and shook his head.

"Please," she whined.

"No, it'll cause crumbs." Penny handed him her drink and she stood next to the bed eating the cookie. Sheldon watched her, at first to make sure she didn't sneak back into bed with crumbs, but he felt a warmth spread in his lower stomach. He looked her over, from collarbone to thigh. He felt warm when he saw her breast. Perfect hard nipples teased him from under her thin top. He entertained the thought in his head of him putting the drink on the night stand and crawling over to her. He would press her up against the wall that was no more then a foot behind her and slide his hands under her thin tank top to warm her breast. He thought about kissing a line of kisses from her belly button to her pebbled nipples. He knew what she sounded like moaning, the apartment walls weren't sound proof. He bet his name would sound like heaven on her lips as she moaned.

Penny noticed a goofy bedroom look on Sheldon's face. She smiled and when she was done with her cookie, she lightly brushed imaginary crumbs from her chest. She hummed when she saw the lust in Sheldon's eyes. Who knew that Mr. Robot would be looking at her like she was the new and improved iPhone? She crawled into bed, purposely seductively. Sheldon looked like he was a baby horse that was ready to bolt. She grinned and took her stop next to him, letting her leg touch his.

"I have to call my mother!" he said as he bolted from the bed, keeping himself at an angle to hide his erection. She tried not to laugh at the speed that he bolted from the bed.

She crawled out of bed and found her iPod. She didn't want to eavesdrop on his call to his mom.

"Oh Shelly look who just walked in the door," his mother said as the screen blurred. His sister came into focus and it blurred again.

"Hey there Shelly," Missy said, getting too close to the Web cam. He gave a little wave and hoped he could get off the call soon. Out of the corner of his eye he had seen Penny have another drink and now she was dancing to what ever she was listing to on her iPod.

"Hello Missy. Look Mommy, I have to go, OK?" he said, hoping she would let him go this time.

She nodded but before she said bye, Penny squealed.

"Come ride the train, hey ride it...woo woo! Come on Sheldon, they're singing about trains," Penny said, making some odd movements with her arms. "Sheldon dance with me! They're singing about coo coo trains!"

She looked at Sheldon's lips move, but couldn't hear what he said.

"Shelly?" Sheldon looked back at the screen in a near panic.

"Penny is here," was all he could manage.

"Woo...Woo!" he heard from Penny. He looked over and saw she was still dancing. She shook his head at the level of inebriation she was at.

"Shelly, do you have a drunk girl there, you dog?" Missy said as she crammed her head next to her mom's, trying to catch a peek. "Oh. My. God. Is she listening to 'C'mon N' Ride It' by Quad City Djs? Tlk about old schooling it."

Penny called out for Sheldon again before he could answer Missy. When she couldn't hear him again she called out "What? I can't hear you." Sheldon excused himself and walked over to her.

He pulled out one ear bud and that got her attention.

"Penny, at the volume that you are listing to your music, you will expose yourself to a decibel range that will cause damage to the fragile tissue strands within the cochlea. Plus I need you to be quiet. I'm talking to my mommy," he said as he turned around and sat back down.

Sheldon's mom and sister looked at him expectantly.

"So where were we?" he said, trying to force himself not to yell at Penny for bouncing on the bed. He heard a _thud _and let his head drop into his hands.

"Shelly is she alright?!" his mother panicked. Penny stood up quickly from the floor and threw her arms around Sheldon.

"I'm OK," Penny said as she giggled. She gave a big wave and took off to the bed again.

Sheldon looked up and mouthed "I don't know what to do," as he raised his hands in an 'I don't know' motion. His mother cocked her head to one side. Her thinking position, Sheldon thought.

"Shelly the genius doesn't know what to do with a pretty, drunk girl in his hotel room. Call the media!" Missy said before she waved bye. He growled at her, but waved.

"Honey Pie, you have two options. One you pour some more drinks in her until she passes out, or you put some food and water in her and walk it out of her. Think of what Jesus would suggest," his mother said. He wanted to tell hims mother_ Didn't he made water into wine? _but her didn't, Penny chimed in.

"Walk! Ya, lets go outside in the snow," Penny squeal. He put a finger to his ear and massaged it. His hearing was going to be damaged from those squeals of joy.

"OK, mommy," he said. He listened to some last minute tidbits of information and was ready to log off when Penny was suddenly at his side again. He looked over and felt a flush cross his cheeks and the warmth spread in his stomach.

She was standing in her coat, and her boots. Her coat was long enough that it looked like that was all she was wearing.

"I'm ready," she said in a low voice. He fisted his hands and licked his lips, fighting the urge to push her down on the bed and let primitive nature take over. He counted to five and looked Penny in the eyes.

"Penny, you need pants."


	4. Chapter 4

_Many thanks to __TheRimmerConnection__ for the betaing. She's very educational. _

_Previously..._

_She was standing in her coat, and her boots. Her coat was long enough that it looked like that was all she was wearing._

_"I'm ready," she said in a low voice. He fisted his hands and licked his lips, fighting the urge to push her down on the bed and let primitive nature take over. He counted to five and looked Penny in the eyes._

_"Penny, you need pants."_

_----_

"Penny. Penny. Penny!"

"Whaaat?" Penny slurred as she stopped and turned to look at Sheldon. She wobbled for a moment before standing straight again. Sheldon rushed up to her and grabbed her hand. She had already slipped once, landing on her butt, and once staggered off the sidewalk toward the road.

"Hold my hand," he said through his teeth.

"But you don't touch," she teased.

"I'll make an exception to ensure you don't get run over by a plow." He lead the way toward the gas station that the front desk guy said was at the end of the block. When Penny first hummed and sang a little tune, he didn't smile, but now holding her hand, he did. He gave her a sideways glance and what he saw took his breath away. The fluffy snowflakes that safely rested on her hair and shoulders made her look angelic. He couldn't help but smile.

"Penny," he said as he looked forward. She had started swinging their hands and she stopped, thinking that was why he said her name.

"Sorry," she said.

"Why must you apologize so much? What are you apologizing for this time?"

"Winging our hands?" she said looking at him. She had a half-scared look on her face. Not a scared face of fear, but one that screamed 'What the hell did I do this time?'. He slightly swung his hand, fighting the urge to correct her 'winging' and she smiled, eagerly taking over the swinging.

"I wanted to know why you came. On the trip I mean. I've been thinking of logical reasons that you would come, but I was unable to conclude a reasonable explanation."

She sighed. "You didn't want me to come either?" He heard the tears in her voice and stopped dead in his tracks. Her face saddened and he could see the unshed tears. His angelic beauty was going to cry and he had no clue what to do.

"No! No, no. I couldn't see why one would endure such a socially awkward situation. I know that the group dynamics have been in a conundrum since you and Leonard concluded your sexual relationship." Penny looked at Sheldon, trying to translate what he just said.

"Are you asking, that since Leonard and I broke up and the guys have all been weird, why I still came?"

"Yes, I'm pretty sure I just said that."

"Sweetie, because I like hanging out with you all. Except Leonard. And I didn't want my money to go to waste." She started walking forward, dragging him right along.

_"_Do you know that Wolowitz and Koothrappali don't know the reason you two ended your relationship?"

"Ya, I told Leonard to keep his trap shut. You all are his friends first, you know, I didn't want him to be seen poorly. You know." Sheldon nodded.

"I believe so. Like parents not telling the children the real reason why they are separating?" Penny spun around and pointed her finger at Sheldon.

"Exactly!"

Sheldon paid for their snacks and bottled water. He was pleased to note that Penny had calmed down quite a bit. As they walked back to the hotel, the snow picked up again. Penny pocketed her wrapper and shoved her water in her pocket.

"Have you ever made a snow angel Sheldon?" Sheldon had seen his sister and brother make them several times, but he didn't see the purpose in doing such a thing. He had better things to do with his time besides lying in snow and getting pneumonia.

"No." She smiled and waked to the white canvas of a yard. She turned, lined herself up and closed her eyes. As she fell back, she smiled and Sheldon jerked in panic. Before she hit the ground he ran several scenarios through his head: What if she hits her head on a rock? What if she lands on a rock in the center of her neck, severing her spinal cord? Or her back?

She landed and a puff of snow displaced. She laughed and started to move her arms and legs back and forth. Sheldon watched in awe. He still thought it was pointless to lie on the ground in lord knows what, but she was a sight.

"Come on Sheldon, make an angel."

"No, that's not going to happen." She stopped and looked at him, she grinned.

"I'll tell your mommy that you refused to make an ___Angel_," she taunted. She was sure she had him now. He didn't want to bicker with his mother about Angels.

He sighed and dropped his head.

"I do recall telling you once, 'With great power comes great responsibility'."

"Ya, ha."

"This is abuse of power," he said as he lined himself up. He repetitively clenched his fist and after three tries he fell back. Penny squealed in delight and for him, that made the life-threatening fall worth it.

"Come on, now move your legs." She coached him for a couple of minutes as he got motivated.

She looked up into the dark sky with the big fluffy snowflakes falling. It was hypnotic.

"I used to just lay in the back yard like this and watch the snowflakes fall. Its one of my favorite things of winter."

Sheldon had his eyes clenched shut this whole time. He opened them and looked up. It was phenomenal. He watched the snowflakes fall and he saw patterns, equations, answers and conclusions. He looked over at Penny and saw her hypnotized by the snow. He loved her. Realizing it now scared the hell right out of him. He fell into snow for her. Walked around in the horrid snow storm that had grounded planes and shut down cities for her.

"Penny," he said, but was interrupted by a guy yelling at them.

"Hey! You guys alright?" He and Penny looked up at the same time toward the door of the hotel. It was the desk clerk.

"Ya. Just making Snow Angels," Penny yelled as Sheldon gave him the thumbs up. The guy waved then off and entered the door.

"Trained monkeys wouldn't have checked on us," Penny mused as she got up.

"No, perhaps not. Throw poo at us maybe," he said as she held her hand out for him. He stood up and laughed. "Hee hee," he breathed out. Penny smiled and kissed him. He froze for a moment, but kissed her back.

The elevator ride was minutes longer than before, Sheldon thought. His mind was racing since Penny had kissed him. 'What does it mean?' he asked himself several times. He opened the door and held it open for her. In silence, they took their coats and boots off. Sheldon excused himself to the bathroom and changed. He wasn't sure now how the rest of the night would go, but he had known how he wanted it to go in the parking lot.

He found Penny lying on her side, on his side of the bed.

"You're in my spot," he said, walking to his side of the bed. She smiled and scooted over. She sniffled.

"You're not getting a cold are you?" he asked in a panic.

"No. Sheldon trust me, it's not a cold." He relaxed and slid down in bed. "Sheldon, I know you're not big on touching, but will you hold me?" He nodded and rolled onto his side. He hesitated a couple of times with his arm placement, but she just reached out and took his hand. She wrapped herself in his arm and molded herself against him. It took him a few minutes to relax again, but he did. He smelled her vanilla scented hair and allowed himself a private sigh.

She turned her head and looked at him. "Thank you Sheldon."

"You're welcome Pen-" But before he could finish she kissed him again. He closed his shocked eyes and let his hormones guide him.

When she felt him respond, she rolled over to face him. She could feel his uncertainty, but he for once took her subtle non-verbal instruction very well. She felt a wave of lust roll through her when she heard him moan. She smiled and pulled her lips away from his neck. She looked at him and lost herself in his eyes.

"Penny?" he asked in a low husky voice.

"Ya."

"You're kissing me, a lot."

"Is that okay?" He didn't say anything, but he nodded. He didn't trust his voice. He didn't trust his words. He was ready to tell her to stop. He didn't honestly believe in the spiritual delusion that his family did, but the moral belief system was ground down deep in him. He accepted a lot of teasing from Leonard and especially Wolowitz for his lack of female relationships, but he didn't want to pursue a relationship that would compromise those beliefs.

Penny resumed her trail of kisses down his neck and back up to his lips. He memorized each inch of her body he felt. He remembered her nude body he sneaked a peek at when she fell in the tub. And grinned picturing the soup tattoo on her buttocks. Penny slowed down and pulled back again to look at him.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Sweetie. I really, really wanna continue, but I haven't been very consistent with my pill since I broke up with Leonard. You don't happen to have a condom?"

"That wasn't on my list to pack." She smiled. He kissed her again on the lips, then on her forehead.

"Perhaps we should try to sleep instead." She nodded and curled up next to him.

"Is this okay?" she asked.

"This sleeping position is acceptable. Perhaps I can keep you off your back. Your snoring is much worse on your back. Perhaps when we get back to Pasadena you can see an Otolaryngologist. Mine is very competent, you may use him if you like."

"I don't snore."

"Yes Penny, you do." Penny shook her head then rested it in the crease of his shoulder. She thought to herself, _This feels right. He feels right. _But then she tried to think, how long had she wanted him over Leonard? She thought of his endlesspatience when it came to her questions about computer games, comic books, graphic novels, and the rules of rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock. She wasn't sure, but she felt a pebble of guilt forming, realizing that she may have been having feelings for him for a long time.

Penny woke up with the headache of all headaches. So never doing that again, she thought. She started to stretch her legs when she realized it wasn't her own hand on her breast. She looked down and grinned. Just as she relaxed her legs from stretching, Sheldon's grip tightened around her and she felt him rock his hip against her butt. She grinned again. A shiver ran down her back and straight to her doodah, when Sheldon moaned in his sleep. She pushed her butt back, feeling his morning wood.

She bit her lip as she got a good feel for the amount of wood back there. Holy catfish! she thought.

He moaned again, rocking his hips once more, then he froze in place. "Morning sweetie," Penny said, figuring he just woke up.

"Penny I, Holy hel-" Sheldon jerked back and fell butt first right out of bed. Penny rolled over quickly, regretting it immediately when her head shot with pain. She reached up and held her head as she watched Sheldon scurry to the wall. "I, you, I... Penny..." he mumbled.

"What the hell are you going on about?" Penny asked as she slowly sat up.

"I can not be held responsible for anything I may have been doing while sleeping. One's subconscious takes over in nocturnal REM cycles and all reason is out the window. That's why those who sleepwalk are not to be wakened. Penny I..I..-"

"Sheldon, it's OK. Calm down. You did nothing wrong," she said,soothing him. He continued to stand against the wall, hands clenched in front of his boxers. She smiled and held her hand out. He cautiously took it and she pulled him next to her. "Lets go down stairs and get some breakfast. I'm sure the others are already down there."

"It's French toast day."

"Sweetie, I don't think they'll have French toast down stairs. I think it's more of a donuts and cold cereal set-up."

"But today is French toast day. I always have French toast today."

"Don't you have an emergency clause or something?"

"No." She nodded slowly and made her way to the bathroom.

"So how was your night?" Howard asked as he wiggled his eyebrows. "Our night was fantastic." Penny carefully sipped her coffee, Sheldon glared at his empty plate and orange juice, Raj shovelled cereal into his mouth, Bernadette sipped tea and Leonard glared at Penny and Sheldon.

"Long. The room was warm. The people in the adjacent room slept with their TV on. The ridiculous amount of dust in the room has my sinus irritated and Penny snored each time I let her roll over onto her back."

Penny eyed Leonard over her coffee cup. He looked like he was ready to fly off the handle bars.

"You slept with Penny!?!" Howard gasped.

"Yes," Sheldon said, matter of fact. Howard looked around at all of the faces at the table. He looked like he also was ready to explode. Kinda looks like an overexcited puppy, Penny thought.

"You're kidding me," Howard managed.

"Sir, when have you known me to kid?"

"You gotta give me some details, Ho-" Howard stopped when he made eye contact with Penny.

"Shut up Howard," she warned.

"I can't believe you two. How could you!" Leonard said. Tension fogged up the table when he threw his spoon down and crossed his arms.

"Knock it off Leonard," Penny said through her teeth. She really didn't feel like doing this again this morning.

"Sheldon you're my friend, or at least ___were_ my friend."

"Leonard. Stop. It." Penny stood up and walked away. The table watched her leave toward the lobby, then turned their attention to Sheldon. Raj leaned over and whispered in Howard's ear. Howard shrugged.

"I don't know buddy. Leonard what the heck happened between you two?" He asked.

"None of your business, Howard," Leonard snapped as he glared at Sheldon. Sheldon took a long sip from his orange juice and carefully placed it down.

"Well Howard, what happened is, Leonard said some rather hurtful things about and to Penny the night of her performance of 'A Cool Winter Night'." Sheldon looked at Leonard with anger and resentment in his eyes. "Penny asked us to go, to support her; you and Raj were at your mother's Brisket fest. Bernadette made it though. After the show we met up with Penny to congratulate her. Leonard complained the whole time. Made it next to impossible to anyone near him to even try to follow the show. Penny walks up to us, I tell her "Well done, each sentence perfectly recited." Bernadette compliments her on her visually pleasing wardrobe during the show. Penny's attention is pulled away for a moment and she excuses herself. Leonard turns to us. "That was horrible. I would have rather shoved pencils in my ears and had a colonoscopy done. I would have rather stayed at work and slammed my head against my white board then have had to listen to the finger-nails-on-a-chalkboard that was passing as singing. If you would have just shut uuuuup Sheldon, I could have lied again to get out of this, But noooo-" But what Leonard didn't know, or chose not to notice, was that Bernadette and I were trying to use body language to tell him that Penny was right behind him."

Sheldon looked at Howard and Raj. "She heard everything. And when Leonard turned around, he acted like she didn't hear a thing. When she confronted him, from what Bernadette explained to me, thank you by the way," he said toward Bernadette. She sadly waved her acknowledgement, so he continued. "Called her a liar. How did you say it Leonard? "I didn't say that, you must be confused."."

Leonard stood up abruptly and walked away. Raj leaned toward Howard again. He nodded and looked at Bernadette. "Why didn't you tell me what happened? Why did you keep this from me?"

"Because Penny didn't want to talk about it. She didn't want you guys to know. Think about it shnookums, every time we had a double date, did they argue more than they laughed?"

"Well, yeah but then, opposites attract, right? I figured they had a little love heat thing going." Bernadette shook her head.

"No, she wasn't happy. He always made her feel stupid and wrong. Remember the whole psychic thing? Or the whole mess with him not telling his mother about her? They argued more and more lately, that was her last straw."

The table hushed when they saw Penny storm back into the room. She had her coat on and Sheldon's in her arms.

"Come on Sheldon. The lady at the front desk said there is a cafe down the road. They serve French toast."

~~~~~~~Thanks to those that have left remarks, all responses are welcomed. That little note makes me smile. ~~~~~~


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N...Thank you for reading. If you like, review, it keeps me updating so quickly. I know this one is shorter, but more is to come. Enjoy._

_Thank you So much to a new Beta'er of __mine, __TheRimmerConnection. Bunches of tulups for you TRC. _

_Previously..._

_"No, she wasn't happy. He always made her feel stupid and wrong. Remember the whole psychic thing? Or the whole mess with him not telling his mother about her? They argued more and more lately, that was her last straw."_

_The table hushed when they saw Penny storm back into the room. She had her coat on and Sheldon's in her arms. _

_"Come on Sheldon. The lady at the front desk said there is a cafe down the road. They serve French toast." _

Penny leaned over the sink staring at herself in the mirror. I should move, she thought. Move the hell away from that stupid, arrogant, conceited, Frodo loving, lactose intolerant scientist. She sighed, stood up and pushed herself away from the sink. Sheldon was probably scaring the waitress. Poor thing, she thought. Sheldon had made breakfast very difficult on her. The juice was sour. The fork was spotted. The toast wasn't toasted evenly. Thank God the French Toast was 'acceptable'. She walked out of the restroom and saw Sheldon talking on his phone. She looked around, wondering if the men in white coats were on their way to drag Sheldon out. Peggie, the poor waitress threatened Sheldon with just a look.

"Are you sure?...Fine, we will formulate a plan when we return to the hotel... yes, yes. Good bye." Sheldon made an exasperated sound and started tapping away on his phone. He squinted at it, moved it around in the air, probably trying to get better bars, then gave up, by shoving it in his pocket.

"So what's happening?" Penny asked as she rubbed her stomach. Her breakfast had been stress eating in its finest form. She had probably gained three pounds.

"Well, Wolowitz just called to inform us that the airline just called and informed the hotel that we are here another night. Apparently Mr. I-wanna-be-a-weatherman from the news last night failed to guess that there would be freezing rain and a good ol' fashioned ice storm later today. Apparently by the time the town uncovers itself of snow, the ice will be here."

"That suck-a-roos." 5

Sheldon nodded sarcastically. "Yes, it _Suck-a-roos."_ Penny let his attitude slide. She didn't feel like bickering, or making him more pissy.

"Well, if we're here another night, we might as well get some supplies." Penny stood up and grabbed her purse. Sheldon looked up at her, confused.

"Supplies? Like flashlights and water?" She smiled. She was thinking more like soda, chips and condoms, but a flashlight was what he thought of.

"Yeah, flashlights," she said, rolling her eyes . He stood up and reached back for his wallet. Penny looked at the check when she sat down, seeing how much her gut-busting meal was. She pulled out the needed amount from her wallet and put it on the table. Sheldon noticed and looked at the money in his hands. He pulled out enough for the whole bill. Socially acceptable customs would suggest that the man pay from the meal, he thought. So why was Penny paying for her meal?

"Penny?"

"Ya sweetie?"

"Isn't it customary for me to pay the bill?" He looked up at her, money clinched in his hand.

"Well, ya I guess, on dates," she said, putting her hat on. He looked at her then back to the table.

"Is this not a date?" Penny caught on. She smiled and rubbed his arm. He looked at her hand and felt the rush of heat speed from her touch to his core.

"This is breakfast. I guess we could count it as a date, but I'm not. This is just getting breakfast."

"OK," he said as he put down some money. He followed her out the door and to the corner of the block. They had seen a drug store just on the other block. They carefully stepped over the snowbank that was forming on the edge of the sidewalk. The snowplows had already been through, but it was still snowing pretty good.

"Penny?" Sheldon asked as they reached the other side of the street.

"Ya," she said absently.

"I observed something during our meal. You consumed an amount of food that would have sufficed for two grown men. Why?"

"Its called stress eating my dear. I do that, in case you didn't notice. If I was at home, I would have downed a carton of ice cream."

"You were stressed? I felt that our meal was rather relaxing. I rather enjoyed it." Sheldon felt a ping of pain. He had liked their private meal together. No Raj, whispering into someone's ear, no Leonard glaring, no kissy kissy from the love birds.

"No, I liked breakfast, I was talking about before that."

"I thought our walk was pleasant. Very visually appealing."

"No, I mean when we were at the hotel. Leonard. That was stressful for me. I didn't recover from that well." She kicked the bike rack next to the door of the store, getting as much snow off of her boots as she could. "The walk over to the diner was pretty, wasn't it."

They walked in and Penny grabbed a shopping basket. Sheldon, for better measure, grabbed one as well. Then they walked over to the food section and grabbed some snacks. Penny also picked up some powdered drink mixes: she was sure it would be better, in the long run, than just water, soda and vodka.

Sheldon followed her faithfully, chiming in with what she thought were pearls of useless wisdom. She listened though: never know when you might need to know the manufacturing process of a shelled walnut.

In a moment they found themselves at the condom section. She smiled and looked at Sheldon.

"Ok sweetie, you get to pick a box. I'll go get some other stuff on my list. See you later," she said as she winked at him.

Sheldon looked at the selection of assorted condoms. He felt his lip twitch. He reached up and soothed the nerve. You can do this, he thought. A voice in the back of his head screamed, No you can't! He shook his head and stepped back. Think logically Sheldon, think orderly, he ordered himself.

He started at the top right corner of the section.

Ribbed. Twisted. Studded. Twisted. Latex. Non-Latex. Large. Snugger. Thin. Ultra Thin. Shared Pleasure! Her Pleasure! Colored? Flavored? Scented?!? _Who__ would__ want scented contraceptive devices?_ He asked himself. He told himself, _just pick one_, but he couldn't do that now could he? Perhaps this was a test of some sort. Whichever box he grabbed would send some message to Penny, he was sure of it.

Problem was, he didn't have a clue about this. This was an impossible decision without opening the boxes to examine the options. How could he know if he wanted the 'Twisted' condom?' The mere thought of putting anything that twisted on that part of one's anatomy seemed thoroughly undesirable.

He cringed thinking of it and instinctively placed his clenched hands in front of his manhood.

"Ya pick one yet sweetie?" Penny asked as she rounded the corner. She stopped dead in her tracks. Sheldon was in full twitchy mode. Her first thought was of a movie she saw once with the guys, and there was a robot that got wet, twitched and then blew up. She quickly walked up to Sheldon and rubbed his arm.

"Sheldon? Sweetie?" His lip and eye twitches continued, but a little toned down. She didn't want this to happen. She wanted him to have fun picking out condoms, get excited. Not have a panic attack.

"P-P-Penny. I don't know what to get? Scented, twisted, ribbed, lubricated. There are too many. And I don't know how I feel about a Spermicide. That just doesn't seem right. This one talks about prolonging the male erection for longer, more satisfying sexual intercourse." He pointed at the box. Penny rubbed his arm and Shhh'ed him.

"Ok, well spermicide is a good thing, lubrication is a good thing. How about we start off simple," she said as she reached for a box. He shook his head.

"So we have a type. Now what about size? They failed to put a size chart on here."

"Sweetie, we'll get one of each," she said as she put two more boxes in the basket. She grabbed his hand and dragged him to the register.

When they got outside he calmed down a little. She smiled and shook her head. Boy this one was green,  
she thought. What did shock her, which shouldn't have, was that he didn't even have a condom. Never bought one before, ever. How was that even possible?

When they walked in the hotel doors Sheldon stopped and turned to Penny. He looked panicked and for a moment Penny feared that Leonard was coming at them. "What, Sheldon?"

"We forgot flashlights."


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N::: Thank you guess for the reviews!! Much loved. Thank you for the alerts and favs. I love the love!_

_Sorry it took a little while for updates, I got into a reading mood._

_Previously..._

_When they walked in the hotel doors Sheldon stopped at turned to Penny. He looked panicked and for a moment Penny feared that Leonard was coming at them. "What Sheldon?"_

_"We forgot flashlights."_

"Sheldon Honey, It's OK. We wont need Flashlights for what we'll be doing OK."

"But Penny-"

"Hey guys, how you doing?" Sheldon and Penny turned their attention toward the voice. Howard, obviously in pain, holding his arm protectively, and Bernadette, in a mild panic, were walking toward them. Penny took a couple of steps toward them and held her hands out for an explanation.

"Oh, you want to catch up with the events of the day, OK. Well Penny and I had breakfast at the diner down the street. The food was acceptable, but the service was lacking. Then we walked to the drug store for supplies. Walked here, in horrid conditions," Sheldon said, still oblivious to Howard's pain.

Howard winced and took a deep breath. "Supplies huh? Whadya get?" He took another shaky breath.

"Oh well," Sheldon said as he looked into the bag. "Some dehydrated fruit, horribly over priced chips and pretzels, bottled water, latex contraceptives of three sizes, feminine shampoo and conditioner."

"Latex contraceptive? Are you anticipating coitus?" Howard asked. Bernadette even in her mild panic still managed to backhand Howard. Howard yelled out in pain, Bernadette apologized.

"What happened?" Penny asked.

"We where walking in the back lot, and he fell," Bernadette said as she wiped a tear from her cheek. "It's all my fault! I wanted to make snow angles. I saw a couple making snow angles last night, it was so romantic. Well, he was falling backward into the snow," she sniffled again. "And he tried to brace himself."

"See. I told you last night that falling backward on to the ground like that was unsafe. Noooo, it'd safe Sheldon, just fall back, see like me," Sheldon mocked. "Now look, perfect example." he motioned to Howard.

Penny noticed that Bernadette picked up what Sheldon just said. Bernadette's face light up and she forgot about Howard for a moment.

"It was you!" she said as she covered her mouth with one hand.

"Was who?" Howard chimed in.

"Shhh. Hey Lets deal with you Howard. How about we get you to the hospital?" Penny rushed, not wanting Bernadette to elaborate on what she saw last night.

After a short heated discussion, Penny convinced the hotel to drive them. The drive, was slow and nerve racking for Sheldon. When they walked into the local ER department the felt a weight lift form their shoulders.

Howard chuckled. "Oh my God, I just realized something." Sheldon looked at Howard with a mild annoyed expression.

"What?" He asked. Howard chuckled again and took another shaky breath.

"I'm totally cock blocking you. My injury is preventing you from coitus."

"I've never liked that phrase, 'cock blocking'. I've never really understood the whole calling a penis a cock. A cock is a rooster, a penis is a penis." Sheldon looked puzzled as he shrugged.

"Fine, I'm penis blocking you. It's a first for me."

Sheldon begrudgingly agreed to go back with Howard. He looked at his options as what would be required as a 'friend' in the present situation.

Option one, would be to stay with Bernadette, assist her with filling out the paperwork and provide comfort to her as she continued to sob. Not good with the comforting part of that situation.

Option two, go with Howard, who seemed to only need to talk through the pain in his arm. That's doable.

The nurse finished with her assessment of Howard and left the room in a poor mood. He didn't understand why she would be so irritable, he only corrected her technique a couple times.

"So, you and Penny. How you manage that?" Sheldon didn't feel like answering that, so he shrugged.

"I think as long as those involved are happy, then I'm happy. I didn't know it was like it was between Leonard and her until today." He shifted around on the gerny.

"Well yes, it was rather uncomfortable in the apartment with them arguing. You know how much I dislike arguing." He hated his parents fighting. The yelling, the mean names. He also didn't like when they did have evening fights, Missy would sneak into his room and crawl into his bed. He didn't like having to console someone that hour of the night, when he wanted to be consoled. Hence the birth of 'No ones allowed in my room' rule. Well that and Missy would always play with his things.

"I don't know how you can stand it. How do you do it?" Howard asked. Sheldon didn't know what he was referring to.

"Do what?"

"Well you know, become a sexually active partner with your roommate slash friends ex-girlfriend. I don't think I would be able to."

"That is a complete false statement and you know it. You have made it clear on several occasions that you would be more then acceptable to the idea of entering said relationship with Penny."

"No. Before the Arctic, yes. After the Arctic and they made a real try at it, no. I've only halfheartedly flirted. But really, you're comfortable hooking with with someone, that was with your roommate slash friend?"

"I don't see how the persons prior relationships would play a factor in the current relationship."

"Really?" he said with sarcasm.

"You had no problems with entering a 'friends with benefits' relationship with Lesley Winkler," Sheldon shot back.

"I got the OK from Leonard. But didn't it go through your mind even once, that Leonard moves out, lets say you get a new roommate, Raj maybe, and you two have your inevitable end and then she just moves to the next bedroom. Like a sexy ping pong game."

Sheldon could feel his jaw clinch and his neck redden. He didn't like this conversation one bit. It wasn't like that. She wasn't like that.

"Shut up Howard."

"I'm just saying, look at her track record. I don't want you to bet hurt. She's major league, your still playing tee ball."

"What's that American baseball reference supposed to mean?"

"It means: She has many innings under her belt and this is, to my knowledge your first time up to bat. Again, I don't want you to bet hurt."

"But she's Penny," Sheldon murmured.

"Exactly."

_~~~~Don't hate Howard, He's just looking out for his boy._


	7. Chapter 7

Many thanks to TRC for betaing.

* * *

___Previously... _

_"Shut up Howard."_

_"I'm just saying, look at her track record. I don't want you to get hurt. She's major league, you're still playing tee ball."_

_"What's that American baseball reference supposed to mean?"_

_"It means: She has many innings under her belt and this is, to my knowledge your first time up to bat. Again, I don't want you to get hurt."_

_"But she's Penny," Sheldon murmured._

_"Exactly."_

* * *

Sheldon and Penny walked to their room. It had been a long wait at the hospital. Penny was dead tired, but perked up remembering what was in the bag that Sheldon had clutched to his chest.

"So, you tired?" she asked when they walked in the room. He opened his mouth to answer, but she beat him to the use of his mouth. She reached up with both hands to pull his head down. After the initial shock, she was pleased when Sheldon responded. He reached around, bag still in hand, to pull her in close. He had been deep in thought during the ride home, thinking too much about what Howard had said.

He forgot all of that now. All he could think about was her lips on his and her tongue in his mouth, dancing with his own tongue. She unzipped his coat and un-wrapped his scarf, letting both drop to the floor. She heard him whimper in protest, but she silenced him again. She let her own coat and scarf fall while she led him to the bed.

"Penny?"

"Ya sweetie?" she cooed as she slid her shoes off.

"I'm not sure what to do."

"Just do what feels natural, whatever feels right to you." She kissed him again, hard. She jerked her head back, thinking she should lay down some ground rules. "But before you start sticking anything anywhere you better make sure you've got my permission first," she said with her finger pointed at him. He nodded and dropped his head to meet her lips again. Slowly they lost their clothes, kissing the newly exposed flesh along the way.

She traced the line of hair on his stomach, kissing where she traced. She smiled when she heard his breath catch as she crept closer to the straining bulge in his pants. She looked up the length of his chest, waiting for the green light from him. "May I take these off?" she purred. She smiled again when he nodded.

Sheldon helped Penny take his pants and briefs off. He did a check of himself: heart racing, increased respiration to the point of hyperventilation, testosterone levels increased, adrenal gland in full production. He watched Penny as she wrapped her hand around the shaft of his penis. He sucked in air as she slowly pumped up and down. He felt himself get light-headed when he watched her lip the pre-ejaculation from the tip of his penis.

She moaned when she licked the tip of his cock, she loved the look on his face.

Priceless.

Penny looked up at Sheldon as she turned her lick to a kiss, to a suck that took him into her mouth. She listened to his breathing, it started to quicken and she felt his toes curl. She eased up, not wanting this to end just yet.

She moaned again, mumbling a remark about how he was too big and thick for her to suck him off as she shimmied up to meet his lips again.

Sheldon almost lost it when she said that. He took a deep breath and thought about work, then about calculations, and then, oddly, he thought about Leonard.

"Am I to understand that my size is adequate?" Penny smiled. "Sheldon, _you'll _have to take it easy with _me_. Just until I adjust to you," she said as she kissed him again.

"I figured that comparing my body size to Leonard's, statistically and proportionally, I would be larger than him." What he didn't say and couldn't understand was that he was over the moon happy about that news. He knew that primitive social imperatives stated that the larger sexual organ of one male compared to another's was a factor in noting the alpha male. He smiled to himself. He took Penny's non-verbal cue to kiss her down her neck. He let himself go lower and lower, reaching the swells held in the polka-dotted bra. He pushed the straps of the bra over her shoulders and reached behind her. He popped the hooks from the eyes in a fraction of a second. Penny gasped.

"What do you do, practice in your room?" she teased.

"Just do have at least an elementary understanding of simple hook and eye methodology." Penny ignored the comment. She shivered when she felt his mouth move lower. He kissed and took a nipple into his mouth. She involuntarily moaned. She shifted herself so she could wrap her legs around his body. Sheldon smirked when she rocked her hips into him. He moved to the other breast and she let her head drop back. She had both hands in his hair, holding him-Encouraging and praising him.

Sheldon scooted up and rotated his hips, knowing that he would get another moan from Penny. He was starting to understand his colleague's obsession with coitus. This was more addictive than drugs, he concluded. Penny was starting to lose her control, she wanted to lose her panties, which she knew were dripping wet, and slide him in. She craved the feeling, she ached for it.

"Sheldon. Condom," she gasped. She crawled off of him and stumbled to the door. She only had a mini orgasm, but she would compare it to one of the best she had received from Leonard. Her legs were Jell-o, and all Sheldon had done was play with her breasts while she dry humped his chest.

She knew which sizes wouldn't fit him, so she picked the best bet. Worst case scenario, they would return the unopened boxes for refund.

She found the right box and turned back to the bed. She handed over the box. "Here ya go."

Sheldon carefully opened the box and unfolded it. He was pleased when he saw that the pictured instructions. He read over the instructions and separated a foil. Penny watched and squirmed in place. She was dying watching him read.

"Come on Sheldon. Get it on!"

"I'm reading the correct and proper usage. Look at the statistics here," he said as he showed her the box. "Look at the failure rate with incorrect usage." She grabbed everything but the one condom he had in his hand and dropped it on the floor. Sheldon opened the foil and slid out the condom. He positioned the device on the tip of his erection. Penny groaned as she reached to the floor. She knew he would see his error and demand a new condom.

"Drat! Penny I require a new condom. I seemed to have attempted to place the latex contraceptive on the wrong way." She nodded and handed over a new one.

"How about I put it on," Penny offered. She dropped to her knees right in front of him. He watched with hooded eyes as she carefully opened the condom's package and slid it on.

Sheldon thought that it was a good thing that she had some experience with this, if not he would have gone through the whole package. This thought got him wondering who the condom putter-on'er was between her and Leonard, this thought migrated to Howard's talk at the hospital.

Penny smiled at him and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him down on the bed. He kissed her, teased her with his touch, but he couldn't get the conversation out of his mind. Penny froze, pulled her head back and looked at him.

"What did you say?" she asked. Sheldon looked at her in confusion.

"Pardon?"

"You said Leonard's name. Why?"

"I was thinking about him," he answered. Penny shook her head.

"Sweetie, when we're doing this, you don't think about other people. You don't talk about other people. OK? Just be here."

"But I am here."

"Have your mind here." She resumed kissing him on his neck. She sucked on his ear lobe and grinned when she felt him jerk on her leg. She was back in the game and ready. Sheldon could only think about the droves of previous sexual partners that had done this before him. Touched Penny in the same way and had been kissed the same way. He pulled his head back to look at her. She sighed.

"What Sheldon?"

"I can't help but ponder that there has been great experience on your part in this matter. I know that there have been several previous sexual partners just in the short time frame that you have moved to your apartment. I find it difficult to not think about those experiences that you have had during my current experience. I find myself, one might say, haunted by their prior involvement."

Penny stared at him. What the hell did that mean? Sheldon noted her confused look.

"To put it more simply, dear Penny. Let's say I am the new acquirer of a used car, I not only have to ponder what the prior owner of the vehicle did, but the manifold owners before that owner. That is not even including the multiple driving skill set of said prior owners. It's a very difficult mental situation to be burdened with." Penny felt her eyes sting. He just compared her to a used car. A defective damaged, no longer wanted used car. She swallowed hard.

"So, let's say that this car had too many miles on it, would you reconsider taking the car? Or too many prior owners?"

Sheldon cocked his head to the side. "Well of course, it's just poor practice and judgment to accept a car in said condition."

"So what would be too many miles? No don't answer that. I-I-" Penny untangled herself from Sheldon and scooted off the bed. She felt dirty and damaged. How could she be so stupid? She was the car in question. She reached for her shirt and pulled it on. She rushed over to her suitcase and grabbed her shorts.

"Penny?" Sheldon asked, confused.

"Forget it Sheldon." She reached for the spare pillow and blanket. "I'm sleeping in the tub. I'll be out before your scheduled time slot for the bathroom tomorrow morning."

Sheldon watched Penny disappear into the bathroom. He held his breath, knowing something really bad had just happened. His fear was confirmed in his gut when he heard the lock thumped into place.

Sheldon was frozen in place. He felt a pain in his chest and a undesirable feeling in his stomach. After what felt like hours, he sat up. He looked to his groin, no longer was it ready for coitus. He rolled the condom off, slid it in the foil wrapper and placed it in the trash. He dressed, picked up their discarded clothes, and hung their coats. Each movement made his chin tease and his eyes sting. He played back what had happened in his mind a hundred times already, but he couldn't see what he had done wrong yet. Now he had to pee.

"Drat," he cursed. He placed his ear to the door, he heard nothing. He knew it would be a poor decision to knock on the door and tell her he needed to urinate. He put his shoes on and grabbed his room key.

He left the room, being very quiet with the door. He walked to a door that he was sure would let him use their bathroom.

_Knock, knock, knock._

"Raj and Leonard."

_Knock, knock, knock._

"Raj and Leonard."

_Knock, knock, knock._

"Raj and Leonard."

Raj opened the door. "Hey dude, what can I do you for?"

"I need to use your bathroom," he said. Raj looked at him with confusion.

"What's wrong with yours?"

"Penny's using it."

"Then wait for her to be done."

"Not that simple. Now I really have to go. May I use your bathroom?" Sheldon asked with teeth clenched. Raj opened the door more, allowing him in. Sheldon bee lined it to the bathroom.

"What's that about dude?" Raj asked Leonard. Leonard sat up and scooted against the head board.

"I honestly have no clue." He looked toward the bathroom when he heard the flush, followed by the sound of the sink. Sheldon re-emerged looking confused and rejected.

"What's up?" Leonard asked.

"Oh, you want to catch up with the events of the day. Very well. Well after a horrid experience down stairs, Penny and I ate breakfast at the diner down the street. Got supplies from the drug store. Took Howard to the hospital. Practically carried him to his room. Had an erotic experience with Penny, which ended with her leaving prior to completion of coitus, to take a blanket and pillow into the bathroom."

"What did you do?" Leonard and Raj asked in unison.

"I don't know."


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N::Thank you to all who've added TSFE as an alert and a fav._** Thanks guys!**

**Thanks to**** TheRimmerConnection**** for the betaing. **

Disclaimer: The gang belongs to their creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady. I'm just playing with them.

I would keep Shelly if I could, that would be fun. I wouldn't mind his OCD when it came to cleaning my house.

* * *

Previously...

_"I honestly have no clue." He looked toward the bathroom when he heard the flush, followed by the sound of the sink. Sheldon re-emerged looking confused and rejected._

_"What's up?" Leonard asked._

_"Oh, you want to catch up with the events of the day. Very well. Well after a horrid experience down stairs, Penny and I ate breakfast at the diner down the street. Got supplies from the drug store. Took_ Howard_ to the hospital. Practically carried him to his room. Had an erotic experience with Penny,_ which_ ended with her leaving prior to completion of coitus, to take a blanket and pillow into the bathroom."_

_"What did you do?" Leonard and Raj asked in unison._

_"I don't know."_

* * *

Sheldon watched the emotions flash across his fellow scientists' faces as he told his telling of his day. Leonard's face was less friendly then Raj's. Leonard had the additional anger. When Sheldon finished, Leonard was visibly upset, now pacing the room like an agitated lion.

"Dude. Don't you have any clue of what you did that was wrong?" Raj asked. He crossed his arms and waited for Sheldon. Sheldon looked at him with an expression of exhaustion and irritation.

"Don't you think that if I knew, I wouldn't be here saying 'I don't know what I did'."

Leonard flapped his hands in exasperation. "You called her a slut, Sheldon!" Sheldon looked over to Leonard and rolled his eyes.

"Leonard, I have an eidetic memory. I think I would remember calling Penny a slut."

"You compared her to a used car with many miles and owners. Dude, how did you think she should interpret that?" Raj said as he took a sip of water.

"Well that's not what I was implying, I was just telling her that I was thinking about the-"

"Never talk in bed! I learned that the hard way. She threw me out of her apartment and I walked into you and my mother playing Rock Band. You don't think of anyone else, you don't talk about anyone else, and if you do talk, it's to talk dirty." Leonard flopped down in the chair. "Sometimes that even gets her in a huff and she's in the bathroom."

Sheldon looked at Leonard, trying to process this all. How was he to know Penny's preferences?

"Oh, I know I'm going to regret this," Leonard said as he straightened up in the chair. "Sheldon, you have to fix this. Penny is a good person. I screwed up big time with her, but in the long run it's going to be a good thing. I've known for a while that you two had something. You guys hide it with your bickering and nitpicking, but you two have something. You have to make it right. You two deserve something good."

Raj looked at Leonard in shock and awe. That was the last thing he thought Leonard would say, but he wasn't going to disagree. He could see that same thing that Leonard was talking about. He saw it years ago.

"How do I make it right? She commandeered the bathroom." The two men looked at Sheldon and smirked.

"You're the genius, you figure it out."

Sheldon thanked them for the use of their bathroom and made his way to his room. He found that Penny was still in the bathroom. He pressed his ear to the door and listened. Nothing. His hand was up and ready to knock, but he stopped himself. If she threw throat punches when they knocked on her door before eleven in the morning, what would she do at this hour of the night?

Two words popped in his mind. Junior. Rodeo.

He walked away from the door and stared into the darkened room. He wasn't tired. He sighed and walked to his computer.

Penny woke when her phone's alarm went off. She turned it off and moved the hair from her face. She tightened the blanket around her shoulders and hunkered down for a moment. To her great surprise, the tub wasn't that bad a sleeping spot. She huffed; the last time she slept in a tub was the night of Tracy Frankileno's 21st birthday party. At least this time, she didn't puke all over herself.

She rolled on to her back and sat up. It was six and she figured she could shower, pack and scoot over to the airport all before Sheldon woke.

Penny tippy-toed out of the bathroom, letting out a sigh of relief. Sheldon was out cold. She collected her things and made her way to the door. She made her way to Bernadette and Howard's room. She didn't want to talk to any of the guys and she knew that Bernadette was an early bird.

"Morning," Bernadette said in a teasing voice. Penny offered a smile, but she saw right through it. "What's wrong?"

"Oh Bernadette, it was a long night and not in the great and awesome way either. Is he sleeping?" she asked, inclining her head into the room.

"Yeppers. Out like a light. Talk about convenient. Half a pain pill and he's been out the whole time. We're going to save so much money when it comes to stuff like Tylenol and cold medications. I just give him the children's dose." Penny smiled, as she imagined an old Howard and Bernadette. Her measuring out his cough syrup in a little measuring cup. She sighed and gave Bernadette a high level overview of the night. When she was finished she was in tears. Bernadette gave her a 'there there' pat on her shoulder.

"So any hoot. I wanted to drop by, give you and the love bug in there this," she said as she handed over the bag of regular and snug fitting condoms. "Let you know that I'm going over the the airport. I got a text that our flight will be at ten."

"I got the same message last night. I told Leonard." Penny nodded and said her good bye.

Sheldon woke up before his alarm. He shouldn't have, but he did. He was up late last night surfing chat rooms and interactive blogs. He didn't much like the repeated statement from fellow insomniacs that he, in their words, was a 'dumb ass'. The time wasn't wasted though. He with the help of a few anonymous people, came up with a plan to fix the mess he had made with Penny.

He shuffled out of bed and made his way to the bathroom. He raised his hand to knock, but couldn't. The door was already open. No Penny in the tub. He spun around and looked at the empty space that had held her suitcase. He started to spin around in circles, hoping to find her standing right behind him. Boots, coat, backpack, all gone. He took a deep breath and told himself that she was probably downstairs eating cereal. He rushed into the shower, dressed and packed. He looked over the room, feeling a pang in his chest when he saw the discarded condom in the trash.

Science was easier then relationships.

Sheldon walked into the common room where breakfast was served. He saw Leonard, who gave him a look that asked "Did you fix your mess yet?", Raj, who mirrored Leonard's look, Howard, who looked under the influence of pharmaceutical pain management, and Bernadette, who just looked sad. No Penny.

He arranged his suitcase, placing his coat on it, next to the table. He sat down and waited, hoping that Penny would walk around the corner.

"Sheldon?" Sheldon looked toward Bernadette. "She's at the airport. She left this morning around seven. She just needed some space, OK." Sheldon shrugged.

"Why would I be concerned about the whereabouts of Penny? I'm not her keeper." He forced a blank face and occupied his mind with equations.

"OK, so your flight is noted as being on time. Here is your ticket," the lady said as she handed over Penny's boarding pass and ticket. She smiled at the lady and made her way to the gate. Penny hadn't bothered having the cab stop at a drive thru, she was going to have plenty of time to burn, so why not eat at the airport? She was in a zone as she walked through security. She thought to herself that she was going to have a good day overall, she wasn't the random female for security today.

Penny collected her carry-on and her purse after she put her shoes back on. Making her way to the correct gate, her attention was pulled to the sound of a baby's cry. She looked over and smiled. What would be her luck? As she sat down a few seats away from the baby and its mother, she took note of the Husker outfit the baby was in. The mother looked exhausted as she situated the baby on her lap so she could feed it. "Go big red!" Penny said, in hopes that the lady and baby were fellow Nebraskans. The lady looked up with a small smile. "Huskers are the best," she said.

Penny let herself show a huge smile. "You're a long way from home." The lady nodded.

"Sure am. Me and Junior here flew out to visit my sister and her family for the week. They're living in Cincinnati, somehow our plane gets redirected here because of weather. Now from here, there is no freaking flights to Lincoln. To get there, we have to fly from Denver. Can you believe that? I gotta go that way to get that way," she said as she pointed one direction to another. Penny nodded. It was a similar story from them.

"So you're on the ten o'clock flight out?" Penny asked, happy that she would have someone to talk to on the flight. It shouldn't be too difficult to trade seats after they wereup in the air. She shook her head.

"Nope. I'm on a wait list, but the next flight I would have out of here would be three."

"Three?!"

"Yep, I cant wait to get out of this freaking place. We've been here since the storm." Penny nodded.

"I'm Penny by the way," she said as she held out her hand. The lady took it and smiled again.

"Lisa, and this is Jay, or Junior."

"Come with me, will ya," Penny said as she stood up.

Sheldon was ready to have a full blown panic attack. He looked over to Leonard, who was starting to get nervous as well now. They all sat out in the waiting area for their gate expecting to see Penny waiting; and nothing. Now they were in their seats, and still no Penny.

"Call her again, Leonard." Leonard sighed as he pulled out his phone. He had turned it off, knowing that Sheldon would have a fit if it was on while on the plane. He waited for it to connect to the network. When it did, it dinged. Sheldon looked at him expectantly.

"Got a message?" Sheldon asked.

"Yep, It's Penny. Let me listen, OK," Leonard said as he dialed in his password. Sheldon's knees where bouncing a mile a minute. He had been planning on having her here, so he could talk about last night and explain what he was trying to tell her. He wanted to tell her that he was sorry for hurting her, sorry for making her cry. He hated himself so much for being the reason for her tears. His heart felt like someone was squeezing it. Drat, he hated that feeling. He got it a lot since he had met Penny.

For a split second he was overjoyed, but just as quickly his joy was crushed. He looked at the woman who had brown hair, dark eyes, pale skin, and a child. She sat down after putting something in the overhead compartment. She smiled and took her child's hand, making it wave as well.

"Hi," she said. Sheldon felt a twitch in his eyebrow and lip.

"You can't sit there. Penny sits there!" Sheldon spat. The lady smiled again.

"You must be Sheldon. I'm Lisa, this is Junior. Penny gave up her seat for us. Isn't she the greatest."

Leonard looked at Sheldon, finding that he was going from twitchy, to shock.

"Leonard. She's in Penny's spot."


	9. Chapter 9

**_A/N Beta'ed by the one and only TheRimmerConnection…round of applause please. *Clap clap clap*_**

_

* * *

_

_Previously..._

_"Hi," she said. Sheldon felt a twitch in his eyebrow and lip. _

_"You can't sit there. Penny sits there!" Sheldon spat. The lady smiled again. _

_"You must be Sheldon. I'm Lisa, this is Junior. Penny gave up her seat for us. Isn't she the greatest."_

_Leonard looked at Sheldon, finding that he was going from twitchy, to shock._

_"Leonard. She's in Penny's spot." _

* * *

Penny looked out the window of the bus. She was pretty happy that the air line was willing to pay for a bus ticket for her if she gave up her plane ticket altogether. She rode the bus from Nebraska when she came to California so many years ago. She felt a ping in her chest when she realized that she was talking the same roads that she rode before. Penny was thankful for all of the time she got to think. It didn't help a lot, but she needed the time just the same.

She took in a deep breath when the bus rolled to a stop at the depot. She waited until most of her fellow travelers exited before she stood up and collected herself. He would be waiting, she knew he would. She felt like she was giving up when she called him. She wanted to be better, be over all of what he stood for in her eyes. She saw him right away when she took the final step off the bus.

"Hey sexy," he said, grinning like he did when he wanted some tail.

"Hey Kurt."

Sheldon was crazy. Not that this was new information to Leonard, but he was really off the walker now. Leonard looked up from his plate to the large white board. He looked at the freakishly detailed layout of the airport. Sheldon had mapped out the possible planes which Penny _might _arrive on. Mapped out the routes in the airport that Penny _might _take from the gate, to baggage, to the main exit. He shook his head and scooped up some more food. His phone buzzed on the table. He groaned as he reached for it. He already knew who it would be.

"Hello Sheldon."

"Wha- Ho- How did you know it was me? Oh never mind. I figure you looked at the screen which indicated that it was me who was calling. But really Leonard, why would one assume that it was me, when it could have been some random mugger who bludgeoned me to death and stole my phone? Racking up my minutes, which doesn't really affect me since my death, but still."

"Sheldon," Leonard warned.

"Oh, yes. Right. I'm calling to see if Penny has returned any of your calls."

"No Sheldon, she hasn't. Don't you think that if she called me, I would call you?"

"Well how am I to know? That's why I called. It's irrational to assume. Honestly Leonard."

"Sheldon, let me again warn you. You're going coo coo. Calling Penny repetitively like an obsessed stalker(,) is not going to help you get back in her good graces. Having me call her repetitively is not going to help _me_ get back in her good graces. Chill out! The security guard from the airport already has your picture on display for security. You're on the _list_."

He could hear Sheldon sigh. He waited for a few moments, only knowing that they were not disconnected from the sounds of the overhead announcements he could hear.

"I just need to make it right. I need to talk to her," Sheldon said sounding defeated.

"I know," Leonard said before Sheldon said bye. Leonard looked down at his food, no longer hungry. He got up and walked to the kitchen. Just as he was rinsing off his plate, there was a knock at the door. His heart jumped.

"Hello?"

He turned and found Penny at the door. He couldn't help but smile and rush to hug her.

"Penny! Where have you been? It's three days," Leonard said as he let go of her. She smiled.

"I took the bus back. Look I'm just here for my mail. I'm going to assume you all got it, my mail box is empty." Leonard nodded and looked over at Sheldon's desk.

"It's in there," he said as he pointed to the desk. Penny looked at him expectantly.

"Will ya get it for me?"

He fiddled with his hands. "Um, I've already got two strikes," he whined.

"Oh for crying out loud," she said, making her way to the desk. She ripped open the desk drawer. Her heart clenched when she saw her mail. Sheldon had neatly stacked it, from largest envelope to smallest and wrapped it all up with a folded paper binding. Her name was neatly and clearly printed on the center of the binding. She took a breath. She reached for the stack and ripped it open. She looked for a pen on his desk and found one. Once she had scribbled a note for Sheldon on the paper binding, she waved bye to Leonard and walked out.

Sheldon slowly stepped up to his apartment. He hadn't found her today. He didn't know who was going to be driving him to the airport tomorrow. Leonard had driven him the first day willingly, begrudgingly on the second day. Today he had bribed Raj by giving him back his Hulk gloves. He opened the door and slowly walked in. He flopped on the couch, looking at Leonard who was at his laptop.

"Hey," Leonard said, turning around. He had a look on his face that clued Sheldon that something was up.

"She call?" he asked, hoping. He shook his head. Sheldon sighed and slumped back.

"No, but she's back." Leonard smiled. Sheldon looked at Leonard, not believing what he heard. He was sure that he was imagining it.

"She's back?"

"Yep."

Sheldon flew out of his seat and raced to his desk. He ripped open the drawer and jumped back like it was full of snakes. "Where's her mail?"

"She came by earlier and got it. I had nothing to do with it," Leonard said holding his hands up. Sheldon looked down at the note that was scribbled on the binding.

_Sheldon, thanks for getting my mail. Don't do it again unless I ask you to._

He felt a tightening in his chest. He wanted her to be more happy. He wanted her to be swept off of her feet about the fact he got her mail for her. He nodded at the paper and turned around. He was going to walk over to her apartment and tell her. Tell her that he was sorry and that he honestly believed that he loved her. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and smell her vanilla scent.

He gave Leonard a knowing look and marched off to Penny's.

"So babe, whacha been up to?" Kurt asked. Penny squirmed out of his embrace.

"Oh not much. Working at the restaurant, acting auditions. Same ol' same ol'."

Penny walked to the kitchen and unpacked the short list of groceries she had got at the store. She opened a can of diet soda and a yogurt. She was trying to convince herself that Kurt wasn't a bad thing. She had called him to pick her up from the bus depot and was trying to entertain the idea of starting something back up with him. He was everything she didn't want. He wasn't Sheldon.

She convinced herself that Sheldon was not going to happen, she was a used car, and Sheldon not only wouldn't be the type to buy a used car, but even worse, he didn't drive.

"So when should I come by and pick you up?" Kurt asked as he walked over to her kitchen island. She looked over at her calendar. Work was going to be a bitch. She had missed so much time with her extended vacation. Work was having a shit fit with both her and Bernadette out.

"Um, not sure. What works for you?"

"How's Friday?"

"Bad, working the dinner shift. I could, but earlier."

"How's Saturday?"

"Double." Kurt made a noise from the back of his throat and stepped closer, dropping his lips to her neck. He remembered just what heated her.

"How about-"

_Knock, knock, knock._

"Penny."

_Knock, knock, knock._

"Penny."

_Knock, knock, knock._

"Penny."

She tensed and clenched her fist. Just what she she didn't want. Sheldon to show up with Kurt here. She made her way to the door and opened it a little. She felt the knot in her throat when she saw Sheldon. He was shifting from foot to foot.

"Hello. Um, it's not really a good time."

"Penny, it'll just be a moment. I wanted to talk to you about the other night, I, well you see, I apparently said something that to someone not me, could be misinterpreted. I have been trying to come up with a -" he stopped and almost cried out with the pain he felt in his chest. He felt his throat tighten when he saw Kurt step up behind Penny.

Penny sighed, she hated this. She felt like bursting into tears, but told herself that this was better. Sheldon would see it would be better. She lifted her head high telling herself, to just rip the band-aid off in one fast motion.

"Sweetie, like I said, this isn't a good time." Sheldon nodded as Kurt reached over Penny and shut the door. Sheldon stared at the door, willing himself with all of his might to turn around and walk back to his apartment. He didn't remember doing it, but he made it to his door. He stepped in and slowly walked toward his room.

"Hey! So? How was it?" Leonard asked. He was hopeful that it went well. He had thought a lot on the plane coming home, and all he wanted was for his best-friend and he best-female-friend to be happy. He had amused himself when he was trying to pretend he was sleeping, by picturing their children. Tall, beautiful, and smart. If they had two children, one child would have Sheldon's dark hair, it was statistically inevitable and the other would be a Penny clone. 'Our cool uncle Leonard' is how he imagined the kids introducing him.

He looked at Sheldon's face, and quickly knew something was wrong.

"It's a bad time," Sheldon said as he walked down the hall. Leonard listened for Sheldon's door to open and shut, when it did he walked to the door and opened it.

"So, I'll call you on Friday," Kurt said as he picked up his jacket. He knew that there was something going on with Penny. The last time they had crossed paths, she was very clear about what she thought of any idea of them getting together again. He just figured out that whatever he was doing here was directly related to one of the nerds across the hall.

"Ya," Penny said as she shoveled some yogurt into her mouth.

Kurt nodded and walked out of the apartment. He didn't feel used, hell he 'used' her plenty times in the past for this exact reason. He was going to have a fucking field day being on the other end of the game. He walked out the door, adjusting his jeans when he saw one of the nerds at their door. He grinned as he walked by.

"Hey there widdle hobbit," he said as he passed. He heard a scoffing sound and the door shut.

Ya he was going to have a really fucking good time playing Mr. Distraction.


	10. Chapter 10

_Previously..._

_He walked out the door, adjusting his jeans when he saw one of the nerds at their door. He grinned as he walked by. _

_"Hey there widdle hobbit," he said as he passed. He heard a scoffing sound and a door shut._

_Ya he was going to have a really fucking good time playing Mr. Distraction._

* * *

Leonard stood in shock for a moment, staring at his door. She wouldn't be that cruel, he thought. She's in love with Sheldon, she wouldn't be back with him, he told himself. He ran a hand through his hair and turned around to go to Sheldon's room. He stood at the door, hand fisted, ready to knock. He listened for a moment. He could hear Sheldon wimpier, drawers slam, even a nice expletive that he didn't even know Sheldon knew. He decided to wait on talking to Sheldon.

Friday came quickly. Penny wasn't ready for it. She worked her tail off at the restaurant and was tired. She checked her text message on her phone again, double checking the time that Kurt was going to be there. She cringed. She dropped her phone on the table and made her way to the bathroom.

She showered, shaved her legs and armpits, exfoliated, conditioned and now just sat in the tub. She was debating to shave her private area. She just remembered that Kurt had a very strong preference for that. She wasn't a fan of doing that. She cursed herself for forgetting such a thorn. She hated it. She hated the process of shaving there, hated the itching days later, and she thought it was a little sick. Hair there was a mature thing, a coming of women-hood. Shaved was like, preadolescence in her mind. She shivered.

"So not shaving," she said as she stood up.

Kurt walked up the stairs. He was and wasn't looking forward to this. He didn't tell Penny that he was living with Dawna. Dawna was awesome. He met her one night at a strip club. She was one of two women there, not on the stage. Just to get a feel for her, he bought her a lap dance with one condition: He got to watch. He fell in love half way through the song.

She was the one who shocked the fuck right out of him when he told her about Penny and her current situation. "Push her hard. Try to fuck her on Friday. I bet she'll wig out and run to the hobbit," she told him. He grinned, his women was giving him the green light to hook up with his Ex. The twenty dollar bet wasn't half bad either.

He reached the landing and paused at the nerd's door for a moment. He heard nothing in the apartment. He continued to Penny's and knocked.

Penny's stomach dropped when she heard the door. "Crap," she said to herself. She had already had a glass of wine. She still had to work this evening and knew she would probably lose her job if she showed up piss up on wine. "Hi Kurt," she said when she opened the door. She took a long look at him, he looked good.

"Hey," he walked in and waited for her to shut the door before her pulled her into an embrace.

Twenty minutes later, they were on her bed half undressed. Penny was on her back, eyes shut tight. She couldn't help but feel bad. She wasn't cheating. Sheldon and her were not a couple. But boy oh boy did she feel like she was cheating. It felt wrong. Kurt's kisses moved from her lips and trailed down to her collarbone. Penny's eyes popped open and she looked down. She watched Kurt, already knowing what he would do.

A. Kiss down from the lips to collarbone.

B. While kissing collarbone, grind boner into her thigh, than moved kisses to the breast.

Cup breast, kiss nipple, lick, nip, suck said nipple, while trailing hand to panties.

Penny closed her eyes gently. She took a deep breathe and imagined Kurt was Sheldon. As Kurt moved his oral attention to the next breast, Penny moaned and rolled her hips into Kurt's hand.

"Ya, you like that baby?" Kurt asked. Penny nodded. "Don't talk. Okay?" Penny asked.

Kurt shrugged and muttered 'alright'. He returned his attention back to her breast. He moved his hand from outside Penny's underwear and slid then under. He groaned when he felt how warm and wet she was. Rubbing her nub, he grinned when she responded. Penny reached up and ran her hand over Kurt's shaved head. Penny imagined that instead of the smooth head, she was tangling her hands in Sheldon's dark brown hair. Kurt pulled away from Penny's breast, letting her nipple pop out of his mouth. There was a moist 'pop' sound that made Penny shiver.

Kurt slid down to her leg, pulling her panties down as he did. Penny fisted her blanket and let Kurt/Sheldon lift and move her legs apart. She felt him blow on her sensitive women-hood. She clinched the blanket tighter as Kurt licked her from back to front. Penny's breathing started to quicken as her core was licked, nipped, penetrated and hummed. She let herself to the feelings that flooded her body. Penny's mind was a rapid slide show of Sheldon. As she felt her core tighten and the flood of heat cross her body, she called his name.

"Sheldon. Oh God Sheldon." Kurt pulled his face from her and looked up her length. He knew that this might happen, but it was still a blow to his ego. "No, Shel, Sweetie don't stop," Penny said in between breaths. She was panting when she opened her eyes and looked down between her knees. He heart clenched when she was shoved back into reality.

"Kurt. K-U-R-T. Sound it out buttercup," Kurt said. He didn't want to chuckle, but he was coming damn close.

"Oh God!" Penny said as she moved to sit up.

"Aww, I guess I can settle for that, but really?" he teased.

"This is a mistake. I can't do this. Kurt I'm sorry," Penny said as she slid off her bed and picked up her underwear. Kurt sat on the foot of her bed watching her. He didn't bother to put on his shirt. He figured that would bother her more.

"So who is Sheldon?" Kurt watched her as she flushed. She turned and picked up her bra. Penny gave all of her attention to putting on her bra. She knew it was a cheap trick, but she didn't want to answer Kurt. What would she say?

"Oh he is the guy that I've probably been in love with for the better part of three year. He's also they guy that helped me when I was broke beyond broke. You see he loaned me money, no due date, not interest, no guilt. Oh and he is also the same guy that called me a used car with too many miles on it. That;s who Sheldon Freaking Cooper P-H-D is." She looked at Kurt as she buttoned her shirt.

"No one," she told him. Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Liar. Pen my dear, for an actress, you're a horrible liar sometimes."

"Fine, he's one of the guys that live across the hall."

"The hobbit?"

"No."

"Peter pan?"

"No."

"The zebra?" Penny smiled. She wanted to say no, He was the Doppler Effect.

"Ya," she said.

"So Sheldon, are you excited for tonight?" Leonard asked. He and Sheldon stopped and got take out and they planned, or he planned, on having a movie marathon tonight. He watched Sheldon get to the point of depression that he considered calling his mother. When he threatened Sheldon that, Sheldon made a very visible attempt of 'getting out of his funk'.

"Why would I be excite. I've see off of the movies we are planning on watching tonight. I've eaten the meal I'm planning on eating tonight. What would I have to look forward to that would excite me?"

Leonard at that moment decided that he would in fact be calling Sheldon's mom tonight.

"I'm just saying it would be nice." He looked at Sheldon as they rounded the last turn up the stairs. He looked like he needed to barrow his Ipod and buy a cat. Jeez, Do I looked this bad when I'm depressed over a girl? He thought.

The reached their door and just as Penny's door opened. Leonard had the key in the lock and half turned when he turned around. He was speechless. He looked up to Sheldon for his reaction.

Oh shit, was what came first to his mind, the second was hurry up and open the door!

Sheldon was full of rage. He felt homicidal. He didn't even get this mad when he learned that the guys falsified his results in the North Pole. He watched Penny give Kurt a comfortable hug. Kurt turned around and grinned. Sheldon's Blood pulsed so hard through his veins, it was all he heard now.

How dare he grin, Sheldon thought.

"Evening hobbit. Evening Sheldon," Kurt said as he passed. Sheldon's eyes shot over to Penny. Something in him snapped when he heard his name leave Kurt's mouth.

"No. No, no, no. I will not accept this! Penny what are you thinking? Him?"

"Sweetie, calm down," Penny said as she motioned with her hands for him to mellow out.

"No, I will not _calm down._ Penny, I love you and I will not watch you do _this. _I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean for what I said to be taken out of contests."

"Out of contests? Sheldon you said I was a used car with too many miles on it. That I was unreasonable to acquire a car with so many miles and prior owners."

"It is. What, wait, Huh?" Sheldon stopped to process what she said. Kurt stopped on the step he was on to watch the show. Leonard stood with door open, ready to run in and slam it shut when Kurt charged after them.

"Penny, we covered a couple of topics during that, um, activity. At one time I was thinking about, well umm..." He looked around at the audience. He didn't want to talk about the prior sexual partner part of the conversation with the subjects within punching range. "Well, that one bit, then we talked about the comparison. You see I was trying to compare it to something you would understand better, but it didn't come out like that, Then you asked about acquiring a car with too many miles on it and I answered you. You asked about the purchase of a vehicle, no where in that was I saying you where said vehicle with excessive miles."

"He's right Penny," Leonard chimed in. Penny glared at him. He took a step back and held his bag closer.

"Pen, I'm out. I've gotta met up with Dawna at her work. Take care," Kurt said, with amusement in his voice.

"Penny, May I come over and talk about this with you?" Sheldon asked. Penny nodded and stepped aside.

"So," was all Penny could say. Sheldon walked over to her and stood so close she could smell his minty breath.

"Penny, I've played over that conversation several times, and I would like to better explain some things. One, I'm not experienced in a sexual essence. You are rather experienced. I. I um..." He swallowed. Just say it, he told himself. "I didn't want to disappoint you. You've had many through and experienced lovers in the past and I know that even with my superior intellect, that is something I'm not skilled at." He watched Penny. Understanding crossed her face.

"Oh sweetie, You could never disappoint me in the bedroom," she said as she leaned in for a kiss.

"What if we do it somewhere else?" he asked seriously.

"Nope, not even then." Penny kissed Sheldon before he could ask another question.

They kissed and slowly made their way to the bedroom. He loved that she was in his arms. This was something he could be excited about everyday when he came home. Penny pulled Sheldon's shirt over his head. He leaned down to kiss the pale swells that where held in by her bra. When she moaned Sheldon stopped and looked up at her.

"I don't have any latex contraceptives," he said.

"If you're asking about condoms, I've got the box from Wisconsin. But sweetie, Sorry to be a tease, but I've gotta go to work.

Sheldon dropped his head on hers, just his luck.

"Sweetie, I can help you out with this," she said as she palmed his hard member. He gasped, but managed to nod his head. Penny undid his pants. She lowered to her knees and moved him to her bed. She licked him on his tip just as she eyed the clock. She had a few minutes wiggle room. She looked up at him as she took him into her mouth. She loved the look of his face. She felt so powerful, just then.

Mr. Smarty Pants was puddy in her hands. He looked at her in pure awe and wonder.

When she heard him groan and hiss when he was close to his moment, she got even more turned on. She cursed at the fact that she had to work. Penny relaxed her throat and look as much of him in as she could manage. His hands fisted some of her hair. She felt him curl, hold her tight with his legs, and him kiss her on her head just as he cried out. She moaned when she felt him pulse in her mouth. Penny looked up to see nothing but stomach. She gave a final suck on her way up, leaving a little kiss on his tip. He sat up a little, giving her room. Penny now was able to give Sheldon a good look. She grinned.

He looked like he was ready to fall asleep'

"Sweetie?" Penny asked.

Sheldon leaned down and kissed Penny.

"I love you," he said. She smiled. "I love you too. But I gotta go to work," she kissed him back and got up. "I'll stop by when I get back okay?" Sheldon nodded as he dressed.

Sheldon walked Penny to the stairs, then entered his apartment. Leonard was sitting there, fork in mouth. He reached for the remote and paused the movie.

Sheldon made his way to the couch, opened his box and poked the food.

"So?" Leonard asked once his food was swallowed.

"It went very well."

"Very well?"

"Well in your words, 'It was freaking awesome," Sheldon said before unpausing the movie.


	11. Chapter 11

Baskets full of big fluffy thank yous to PaintedTeacherLady for Beta'ing

* * *

Previously...

_Sheldon made his way to the couch, opened his box, and poked the food._

_"So?" Leonard asked once his food was swallowed._

_"It went very well."_

_"Very well?"_

_"Well in your words, 'It was freaking awesome!'," Sheldon said before unpausing the movie. _

* * *

Two years later...

"Wipe?" Sheldon asked, holding out an individually-wrapped sanitation wipe for Penny. She reached for the wipe and smirked.

"Yes, thank you." She tore it open on one side, like he showed her to. "It is so once you've cleaned your hands, it could be placed in the packet again," he told her. She wiped her hands, taking care to move her rings around. She pushed her rings back into place, knowing that her fingers and rings where now clean, then folded the napkin and placed it back into the foil.

"I still can't believe they finally did it," Leonard said. Penny and Sheldon looked across the table and both genuinely smiled.

"Yeah... still don't understand why I'm not the best man. Who took him in when he pissed her off? Me. Who drove him around Orange County looking for the perfect birthday gift? Me. Who-"

"Okay, we get it Raj. You, you, you. But you're honorary best man, that's something," Leonard said, interrupting Raj. Penny smiled and looked at Sheldon. He took a sip of water; she knew he wasn't interested in the whole conversation.

"You know, I should be in an uproar," Penny whined. She saw Sheldon's head shoot up and look at her. He hated her in an uproar.

"Why? Why in an uproar?" he asked. She looked around the table and noted she had everyone's attention.

"Why? Because I introduced them! I should be the maid of honor. If it wasn't for me, there would be no Mister and Misses Howard Wolowitz," Penny stated.

Leonard grinned, "Well then, if we use that logic, I should be the best man. I asked you to set him up with one of your friends."

"Yep. We got cheated." Penny took a sip of her water. Sheldon reached under the table and rested his hand on her thigh. He gave her a gentle squeeze and moved his hand toward her seven month swollen belly, grazing little circles with his knuckles.

"Well, it's understandable that neither of you are up there. Leonard, you have a broken leg. You couldn't possibly handle the task of a best man while hobbling around on crutches." Sheldon turned his attention from Leonard to Penny. He continued to make little circles with his knuckles. "You Penny, have it very lucky. You didn't have to stand up by the bride during that horribly long service. You didn't have to run around like Mrs. Reilly's chicken, trying to keep everything in order. Most of all dear, you didn't have to wear that dress. Plus, I get you here." Sheldon hoped that would sooth Penny.

"There's nothing wrong with the dresses," Penny whined.

"No, there is nothing wrong with them, but do you really think it would be congruent with tradition?" Penny and the rest of the table looked at Sheldon puzzled. "Bride's maids are not to draw attention from the bride, hence the often ridiculous and horrid dresses." Sheldon chose his words carefully. His Meemaw warned him of a moment like this: the moment that his words could be the nails in his coffin. "Pen, with you up there, Bernadette would look like a troll."

Penny leaned over and kissed Sheldon on the cheek.

"Honey, that's sweet. Now I gotta use the ladies room."

"Well, yes, that and you would probably have to bail Leonard and myself out of jail. I've already had to warn Howard's uncle twice. He has one more strike," Sheldon added.

Penny laughed and wiped the tears from her eyes. This is the one of many things that Sheldon did not like about Penny's pregnancy. The bouncing from tears to laughs in a heartbeat.

Penny excused herself for the bathroom. The guys waited until she was out of range before turning to Sheldon.

"Where'd you come up with that load, dude?" Raj started. "Howard even said that she wasn't a bride's maid because she got so fat so fast." Leonard quickly smacked Raj's arm.

"God Raj!" Leonard hissed. "She's pregnant, that's what they do. Besides, she didn't gain that much weight."

"She has an unnatural craving for pasta and," Sheldon shivered for a moment, "half raw steak. She's ignores my warnings about eating meat that is not cooked to one hundred sixty degrees. Her obstetrician is completely inadequate, telling me to 'be happy that she's eating at all after the vomit-fest she had in the first trimester.'"

"Okie-dokie, back to the question: where did you come up with that little line to get her from tears to all happy smiles?" Raj asked before shoving half of his dinner roll in his mouth.

"Meemaw warned me. She told me that one day, Penny would be like this. She explained the whys and gave me the strictest direction on how to handle the situation."

"Your Meemaw has been gone for over a year, Sheldon." Leonard's heart jolted with worry. Penny didn't need Sheldon going crazy now. They all had been waiting for it, but now wasn't the best time.

"One year, four months and fourteen days to be exact. When we visited for the twins' baptismal, she told me. We were on the porch and it was Monday night, quarter past seven. She wore a shawl that Penny brought. It was chilly." Sheldon felt his chest tighten.

So many times in the past year he wished she was still around. He still couldn't understand how his Meemaw and mother tricked him and Penny into an impromptu wedding. There was a baptismal and wedding in the same week. Penny was flooded with endorphins, smiling from ear to ear while she sat around the kitchen table with his mother and Meemaw planning the dinner at the VFW.

He was mad with the trickery of the women of his family, but felt like at any moment he would wake up, and not be married to Penny. He for once in his life, he fought the urges to stomp his feet and throw a fit. He took a deep breath and 'rolled with it'.

"She just seemed to know that Penny and I would stay together, have a family and-" he stopped, unable to talk about it.

"Sheldon, don't you don't have to talk about it. We were just ribbing you, okay?" Leonard hoped that Sheldon would keep it together. He watched Sheldon meticulously adjust the place setting before him. Sheldon swallowed and smiled as he adjusted his knife for the last time. It was ok, he told himself. He was married to a cheesecake, vanilla scented goddess, and she was pregnant with his daughter.

Penny did inventory of her make-up while she washed her hands. Her eyes were slightly puffy, but she was always a little puffy. Wiping the smudges under her eyes, her breath caught in her throat. Shocked, that's what she was. So much had happened since the day Sheldon stood up and refused to accept her with Kurt.

Driving to work that day was surreal. Work was dreamy. She didn't care that the new girl bumped into her and dumped a whole tray on her. She didn't care that the group of college aged guys didn't leave a tip. She was stuck in a dreamy cloud, unable to believe that she and Sheldon Cooper were going to be a couple.

Walking up the stairs slowly, Penny told herself to roll with it. Just roll with it. Roll with the craziness of dating Dr. Wack-a-doodle; the craziness of making the group accept and handle the change; oh hell, the craziness of love. She really, really liked Leonard, but love wasn't a word that sounded right in her mind. When she said, "I love you Leonard" in her head, it never really felt right. It felt forced. Now? Now it felt very right. She didn't even need to work herself up to thinking it.

Penny looked at her door, key in hand. Should she go in? She looked behind her at the guys' door. Should she knock on his door? Just as she turned her attention back to her door, washing the stickiness of the food off, her door opened.

Sheldon smiled with gentle contentment. "Welcome home." Sheldon widened the door to let her in. He took her lucky purse from her, placing it on a chair. He waited for her to finish unbuttoning her coat, and then took it from her. Penny stood in her apartment slack-jawed. Not only did he clean, but he set up battery operated candles around the room. She inhaled and smelled Italian. Sheldon stood by the island that separated the living room and the kitchen, wine glass in hand. Penny walked over, feeling like she was floating. She grinned, wondering if Mr. I- Don't- Drink had one from himself. She took the glass, smiling when she saw him reach for a tall glass. She had no doubt that the glass was his virgin cuba libra.

"Sheldon, you better be careful. You start this now, I'll get spoiled."

"Get used to it."

She placed her glass down and stepped closer to him. He reached out and enveloped her in his arms. Warm and safe is what she felt.

Penny looked in the full length mirror and glowed. Little Miss Cooper was hyper in there, she thought as she focused on her belly. Penny left the bathroom and bee lined it to the table. Sheldon turned just as she rounded a neighboring table and grinned. She gave him wink. He stood to pull her chair out for her. She knew Momma Cooper and Meemaw taught him well. As he sat back down he kissed her hair line.

"Your little miss is kicking up a storm in there." Penny reached for her water. Raj, who was on his third chocolate martini piped in, "Oh, can I feel your belly?" Sheldon gave Raj an 'I'm not happy with you right now glare'. Penny bit her bottom lip and nodded.

Raj shot up and rounded the table. He stood behind her and reached down, resting his hand just in time. "Oh, babba je, She should play football when she gets out," he grinned. Raj kept his hand on her belly, even thought there was no more action. Sheldon cleared his throat.

Raj recoiled as if Penny's swollen belly burned him; he made his way back to his seat while Penny remarked on her daughter playing football: "Oh, right. No, not American football. Soccer. She'll be a forward." Raj sipped his drink again.

"Sure, why not just add Junior Rodeo while we're at it," Sheldon added. He might have sounded snotty and condescending to a stranger, but the group knew him better.

"Um, Sweetie, I don't think Pasadena has a JR team here."

Sheldon cocked his head to one side, thinking, "No, I think you're right; I don't think it does." He shrugged and moved so the waiter could place his plate on the table.

"So,-" Penny didn't finish her sentence, too grossed out and humiliated. She felt a little gush of warm fluid in between her legs.

"So what?" Leonard asked. Penny's face flushed. She leaned over to Sheldon, "Sweetie, I think I just pissed myself."

"How? Didn't you just go? There'll be nothing in your blad-" Sheldon froze. "Penny, have you been cramping, feeling any discomfort?" He tried to keep his voice calm.

"Not really. My back has been killing me though." That caught the attention of the table.

"What's up?" Raj and Leonard asked. Sheldon placed his napkin over his food and stood up.

"I believe Penny is in labor."


	12. Chapter 12

_Previously …_

_Penny's face flushed. She leaned over to Sheldon, "Sweetie, I think I just pissed myself."_

_"How? Didn't you just go? There'll be nothing in your blad-" Sheldon froze. "Penny, have you been cramping, feeling any discomfort?" He tried to keep his voice calm._

_"Not really. My back has been killing me though." That caught the attention of the table._

_"What's up?" Raj and Leonard asked. Sheldon placed his napkin over his food and stood up._

_"I believe Penny is in labor."_

...

Penny sat on the couch, feeling trapped. She leaned forward, looking down the hall to see if Sheldon was coming back. _I'm getting my own chicken! _She thought. She's been stuck on the couch for the past month. One stupid incident of stress incontinence, and she was grounded on the couch like a naughty little four year old. With no Sheldon in sight, she scooted to the edge of the couch. With a much practiced rocking motion, she got off the couch. Pausing for a moment, waiting for Sheldon to bark a warning, but she heard nothing.

"Awe sweet chicken," she told herself. Penny softly tip toed to the kitchen. She carefully opened the refrigerator, prying the seal open with her nails. She grinned like a child in the candy store when she saw the labeled Tupperware container.

"Penny!' Penny jerked, almost dropping the plate. Using the door to recover herself, Penny took a breath of relief. "Saved it," she murmured, righting the plate of chicken.

"Penny, you can't be off of the couch without assistance." Sheldon rounded Penny, taking the plate from her.

"Sheldon, I'm fine," she whined. She followed the plate of chicken though the kitchen to the microwave. Sheldon removed the lid and placed the Tupperware plate in the microwave. Once the timer was set he turned his annoyed attention back to Penny. He was tired, but he didn't mind. He set it up with Caltech to work from home when Penny returned home from the hospital after Howard's wedding. He still woke up in a cold, panicked sweat when he relived that night.

Yes, she was fine, but his mind flooded with the never-ending 'What ifs'. What if she did go into pre-term labor?

What if she got so stressed out and developed pre-eclampsia?

What if she started bleeding during or after delivery and the doctor couldn't stop it?

What if that caused the need for a hysterectomy? Or worse, she bleeds to the point of death?

Oh dear God what if he lost both of them?

"Sheldon! Sheldon! Breath sweetie, calm down," Penny yelled as she shook Sheldon. Sheldon looked at Penny, hyperventilating. He enveloped Penny in his arms, still panicked.

"Wait if I lose you. Penny, so much can go wrong. Didn't that night teach you anything?"

"Yes, it did. It taught me that your little Marietta Blau in there can kick like hell. She made me pee myself."

"No Penny, It showed us that anything can happen and we can't control it!" Penny rubbed Sheldon's arm.

"Exactly sweetie. The doctor checked me, I'm fine. Just roll with it. Now let me eat chicken." Penny turned just as the microwave dinged.

Sheldon followed his little family back to the living room, still not accepting the 'just roll with it' philosophy.

It was late at night and again, Penny's back was killing her, but this time it was different. Her legs where restless and she felt her heart race. "Feels like that time I got in that fight with Becky Monk when she found me kissing Brain," she muttered to herself. She tried to shake off the fight or flight feeling she had. Her legs scissored as she rubbed her back. Useless.

"Danger! Danger!" Sheldon yelled when Penny accidently kicked him. Sheldon looked around, collecting himself. "Penny?"

"Sheldon, I think you should call the doctor," she whimpered. Sheldon shot out of the bed and raced out of the apartment. He wasn't going to waste time with calling some on call doctor at would be sleeping. No he was going across the hall to Penny's old apartment so Leonard could drive them straight to the hospital.

"Sheldon just calm down," Penny begged. Sheldon shook him head when he looked up from the chair. When he turned his attention back to the arm of the chair he had been scrubbing, Penny rolled her eyes. Why would she be surprised? Why would she be surprised that her husband started to freak out about a situation he couldn't handle or control? Why would she be surprised that said husband was now wearing little paper booties, surgical mask, latex gloves and meticulously scrubbing every hard surface he could get his disinfecting hands on?

Penny winced again, still feeling the pressure even with the epidural. Sheldon stood up, inventorying the room. He just had the ceiling left to clean, but those blasted nurses wouldn't call the maintaince department for a ladder. He noticed Penny's uncomfortable look and quickly took his gloves off. Once they were disposed of and his hands washed, he was at her side. Oh how he wished she wouldn't be having any pain. He struggled even know to give proper comfort.

"There, there," he murmured, nervously patting her arm. Penny rubbed her thighs and groined.

"Sheldon, get the nurse in here now!"

"Well yes mother, I will," Sheldon spoke softly into his cell phone.

"Shelly, I'm going to go to the computer and wait for them. As soon as were done, you take pictures and send them, al'right." Sheldon pressed himself closer to the large window of the nursery.

"Yes ma ma." Sheldon departed from his conversation, wiping a rouge tear as he thumbed the 'end call' button. He waved at the passing nurse, getting her attention.

"Yes, Dr. Cooper," she asked with a smirk. She knew better then to call him 'Sheldon' or 'Mr. Cooper', his friends forewarned her. He smiled approvingly at her.

"Yes, nurse," he looked at her name tag, "Jackie. I would like to go in to my daughter. You see her grandmother is very eager for some photos." Nurse Jackie smiled as she swiped her badge though the card reader on the door. She motioned him in, reading herself to instruct him on how to wash his hands, but stopped when he waved her off. She washed as _he _instructed her proper hand and arm washing. Again, she didn't argue, the nurse she relieved twenty minutes ago, forewarned her.

Sheldon finished and made his way to his daughter, Marietta Blue Cooper. He took his phone out and tapped the screen to get the camera. Once he had several pictures of her he e-mailed them to everyone in his contacts list. Just as the phone told him that his daughter's beautiful picture was flying across the world to friends and family eager to meet her, she fussed. He looked around the room for the nurse, she stood just feet away from him.

"Looks like she's hungry," she cooed.

"Well she would be brought to Penny. She's breast feeding, it's better for the development," he said, moving toward the door. The nurse nodded and pushed the baby cart out of the room.

Penny was tired, sore and very grateful for the shower she just took. She carefully sat on the bed, gently scooting back. "Holy crap on a cracker," she said just as the door opened.

"Penny are you ok?" Sheldon asked, hearing her remark. She smiled when she say Marie. "Yep, all good over here."

"Marietta is hungry," he said as he fluffed Penny's pillow. He helped Penny get comfortable, as the nurse got Marietta ready.

"Marietta is a name that I don't hear often. Well I don't hear at all, very uniquie. Is it a family name?" Nurse Jackie asked as she placed the baby in Penny's arms. Sheldon brightened.

"No, not a family name." He took a deep breath, seamlessly changing his pose into 'teacher'.

"Here we go," Penny signed. Sheldon waved off Penny's remark and fouced on the nurse.

"Marietta Blau was a pioneering force in the photographic method of studying particle tracks. She created emulsions with characteristics and development conditions that allowed for observation and measurement of proton tracks. She was indeed the first physicist to show that proton tracks could be separated from alpha-particle tracks in emulsion. Of course, lots of physicists had studied alpha tracks from the alpha-decay of very heavy nuclei in the emulsion, from very early times, in the 1890s, and even earlier. She also was the first to use nuclear emulsions to detect neutrons - by observing recoil protons. Well she even showed there were relatively large numbers of protons and neutrons in cosmic radiation. She was a great female in the world as we know it, I can't understand how you don't know who she is."

The nurse looked at Penny like Sheldon grew a second head. Her co-workers did not forewarn her about _this. _Penny shrugged with a goofy smile on her face. The nurse focused in on Marietta, helping Penny get the knack of breastfeeding.

"You two look precious," Penny said as she walked into the living room from the kitchen. She looked at father and daughter. She smiled and handed Sheldon a bottle. "Bet you never thought the first time you met me that we would be sitting on the couch married with a widdle baby," Penny said as she tickled Marietta's cheek. Sheldon frowned at Penny.

"Please Penny, incorrectly and improperly using words: widdle for little, baba for bottle, is not going to help her hear and say the works correctly."

"What's wrong with a little baby talk with the baby?"

"Many things, as I've already stated." They were quiet for a moment. Sheldon focused on Marietta, Penny focusing on net getting mad. "No, I wouldn't have ever thought that this was probable. But I'm thankful for it every second of the day." Penny looked over at him, all anger vanishing.

"Me too," Mrs. Cooper said a she leaned over to kiss her husband and daughter.

Ok so who the heck is Marietta Blau? Is she really a physics babe? Why yes she is… and most of what Sheldon said about her I copy and pasted from this website…http: // . /Phase2/ Blau,_Marietta 843727247. Html There are spaces in the address, you'll need to take them out to copy and paste the address. Thanks to everyone for reading it's been fun.. I'll probably do another story of the Coopers in the future.

Many thanks to PaintedTeacherLady for Beta'ing this chapter. She's great!


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